Tricky!

Restaurants are soooo tricky! As I've been becoming more food conscious and trying to eat healthier, I have realized that sometimes when I think I am eating well, I'm really not. I've been looking at nutritional information before I go to a restaurant, to make sure what I'm choosing is healthy, and you would be SHOCKED to find out how many calories are in some of the dishes. And no, I'm not talking about a burger and fries, or a plate of nachos. I'm talking about the amount of calories in salads, chicken, and fish - foods we all think are healthy for us.

For example: Tonight we are going to dinner with some friends at Gordon Biersch Brewery in Bolingbrook. I thought to myself "I will get a salad" so as to keep my caloric number low for today. Well - when I went to their nutritional information online (found here), I found out that the salad I would normally get (the Gorgonzola and Pear Salad) is 1150 calories! WHAT?! So then I thought, "Well, a hummus and goat cheese salad sounds pretty healthy" and when I checked the calories it was 1490 calories! Is anyone else as appalled by this as I am? People probably go to restaurants every day and order a salad thinking they are being "good" when really it is almost the same amount of calories to get a burger and fries (1540 calories by the way - less than 100 calories more than the salad). Granted, the salad may overall be better for you because it is not fried, it's less carbs, less fat, etc. but I'm speaking specifically about calories. I suspect that if you asked for dressing on the side and added a tiny bit, instead of dousing your salad in it like they do when they prepare it, then that would make for a healthier meal.

Another evil restaurant trick: desserts! Desserts are by far the worst items on the menu. I can't tell you how many times I ordered a dessert somewhere or wasn't hungry so said to the rest of the people in my party "I'll just get a dessert." JUST?? At Champps restaurant, their apple crisp is 1581 calories. That's 200 calories more I'm alloted for a WHOLE DAY. Their Mile High Ice Cream Pie is 1971 calories. I just can't believe it! I mean - I always knew restaurant food was worse than homemade food, but the numbers are very surprising to me.

I would encourage you, if you are trying to be conscious about what you are eating, trying to lose weight, or whatever the case may be, to check a restaurant's nutritional information before going there so you can be aware of what you are eating. I just do a simple google search, type in the restaurant's name, and the phrase "nutritional information" after it. Nine times out of ten, the company has their nutritional information available online.

So back to Gordon Biersch - what will I be ordering tonight? Half of a turkey sandwich and a side salad (770 calories total). That's still a lot of calories for one meal, in my opinion, but much better than some of the alternatives.

Don't get me wrong, I will still eat french fries, burgers, pizza when I go out to eat, but I would like to consider those foods as more of a treat, and not a "this is what I order every single time I go out to eat" kind of meal :)

--T

Homemade Applesauce

I have tried making a few homemade applesauce recipes in the past, and have liked them all, but nothing comes close to this one! I found the recipe here. I can only really take credit for buying the groceries and finding the recipe, because Mark did most of the hard work. If you decide to make this, I would definitely recommend having an "assistant" to help peel, core, and slice the apples.I did leave out the nutmeg that the recipe calls for. So my slightly modified recipe is:

6 Granny Smith Apples - peeled, cored, and cut in half
6 sweet apples - peeled, cored, and cut in half (I used Gala apples)
1 tablespoon of water
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Add all of the ingredients to a crock pot/slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve warm or chilled.

Here is a picture of the finished product once I took it out of the crock pot. Seriously - it is delicious!

--T

Ipic Bolingbrook - UPDATE

For my regular blog readers, you know I posted a while back about the Ipic movie theater in Bolingbrook (which we still love by the way). If you missed that blog post, feel free to read it here. Recently, I found out there is another perk to getting the Premium Plus Tickets. These are the ones where you are in comfy recliners, there is a waiter to serve you drinks and food, and you get a pillow and blanket. You also get FREE popcorn (and that's per person!). If you are someone who gets popcorn anyways at the movie theater, you may want to consider getting the Premium Plus tickets for this added bonus!

--T

How to Wash Your Hair

Yes, you read that right. Do you know that I have been washing my hair wrong all these years? I saw something online (I don't remember where, so I can't give credit to the website, unfortunately) that said you should not pile your hair on top of your head when you lather up with shampoo. This causes unnecessary tangles which ultimately can damage your hair when you have to comb through them. Instead, you should put shampoo on the top of your head, massage it into the scalp, and rinse. The ends will get clean as you rinse the shampoo out, since the shampoo has to travel down your hair anyways as you rinse. I've been doing this for the last few days and WOW, what a difference! My hair is soooo much easier to comb through after I get out of the shower. Who knew?!

--T

The Best Christmas Gifts...

...are those that are practical and/or thoughtful (in my opinion).

I received some great Christmas gifts this year and wanted to share my two favorites.

Water Pitcher

I had been wanting one of these for a while, because you can make fruit water, the natural way! We have already tried lemon water, and now I have orange slices in there. It's yummy and very healthy for you, not to mention easy to fill a glass anytime you want something to drink. I saw a combination online for raspberries and limes that I would like to try next. My mom had a hard time finding one that was big enough, but also had enough room underneath the spout for you to fit a glass. Many of them are designed to hang off the edge of a counter, but who wants that on the edge of their counter? If you are interested in purchasing one, this one is from Bed Bath and Beyond.

Click here for flavored water recipes and click here for the benefits of drinking lemon water.


Blanket
My husband, Mark, made this blanket for me as one of my gifts. No, he didn't make the actual "Love" part or the fabric, but rather took two pieces of fabric, cut strips all along the outer edge and tied every strip to make one of those no-sew blankets. Not only is it very practical (since I always want a blanket when I lay on the couch), but it was so thoughtful! I have to admit, I cried when I saw it (hence the reason I look weird in the photo - it was post cry!). He picked out the Love pattern and just the fact that he spent the time doing something like that really meant a lot to me.  He was very proud of himself and said "I didn't even have to ask your mom for help."

What was your favorite Christmas gift this year?

--T

Insanity Update

Feel free to read my previous post on my Insanity Adventure! I just finished the recovery week (Week 5), and start Month 2 on Monday. Month 2 is even more intense than Month 1. I can't wait (NOT!). There is not as drastic a change between the photos in Day 21 and Day 35, but I do notice a slight reduction of love handles on the left side (plus when compared to Day 1, the photo for Day 35 looks much better!) It's really weird, because I'm still not losing pounds (only 3 so far), but as long as I look better, then I don't mind :) It's hard work, and daily dedication, but I do recommend the program so far, because it is working!

--T

My Insanity Adventure

Insanity is...well....insane! One day, out of the blue, I decided to do the Insanity workout program. When I say out of the blue, I mean I literally thought to myself "I wonder how that Insanity program is?" and about 5 minutes later was in front of my television doing Day 1.

Day 1 was the fit test (where they have you record how many reps of certain exercises you do. You will do the fit test every 2 weeks to see if you have improved and can do more reps). After the fit test I thought "I am screwed." I was DYING after doing it, and it wasn't even a real workout yet!

The first couple of days I was soooo sore! I kept asking people "Do you think it's okay to keep going if I'm this sore?" Secretly, I think I was hoping someone would say no so I could have an excuse not to keep going, but unfortunately everyone said yes. On to day 2...and 3...and 4....and 10...and 15....and 21.

And here I am. I just finished Week 3 today. The Insanity program is 8 weeks with a recovery week, so I'm not even halfway done (ugh!). I have been slightly discouraged, because the numbers on the scale really aren't changing all that much. I am busting my butt, 6 days a week, 40 minutes a day, and not losing pounds?! Talk about a downer.

I decided to take a picture today, on Day 21, and compare it to the picture I took on Day 1. Now, this is quite embarrassing (I mean, does any woman really want to show her flaws to the public? Probably not.) But I am doing this to show you that exercise does work, and sticking to a schedule does help, and that it's not always the pounds that matter.

I have friends who are constantly saying "I want to be at _____ lbs by this date" or "I need to lose 5 lbs" and I feel like that's how people get discouraged and quit what they are doing (because they are not seeing the weight come off). You can lose inches without losing pounds.

My problem area has always been my love handles. I. Hate. Them. You will see in these pictures that they are my area that needs improvement. Up until this point, it seemed like nothing I did helped decrease them, so I am very happy with the results so far and feel it's just what I needed to push through the next 6 weeks.

In the picture from day 1 you can see my love handles start not too far below my sports bra line. In day 21 it the love handles start much lower and much closer to my belly button. That's where I have noticed the most improvement.

I will post an update in a couple more weeks.

--T

Need a New Book to Read?

Have you heard of Goodreads.com? It's similar to facebook, but it's for readers. You can find people you know who also have Goodreads accounts, and "follow" their page. You update what books you want to read, what books you are currently reading, and what books you have already read. It's a great way to get ideas for something new to read. I have found many books on Goodreads that I have read and loved!

Recently they published their "Best Books of 2012" list. Here were the winners:

Fiction
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling - It would be neat to see what her writing style would be like outside of the Harry Potter series.

Mystery
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - Read it and loved it! Recommended it to others who also enjoyed it.

Historical Fiction
The Light Between Oceans by M.L.Stedman - I'm usually not a big fan of historical fiction, but this one sounds pretty good!

Fantasy
The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King - I've never read a Stephen King book I didn't like, so I'm sure this one is good, too!

Science Fiction
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett - This one doesn't seem like my type of book, but if you enjoy science fiction, it may be worth reading.

Romance
Fifty Shades Free by E.L. James - Has anyone NOT read these books? I liked the series, but I'm not sure I would give it a "Best" of anything.

Horror
The Twelve by Justin Cronin - Looks like this is part of a trilogy, so you'd have to read the first book first.

Memoir and Autobiography
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast by Cheryl Strayed - Another book I'm not particularly interested in reading, but seems like it could be an empowering story.

Non-Fiction
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop by Susan Cain - Sounds boring to me.

Humor
Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson - This sounds like a funny book, and could possibly be a quick read.

Graphic Novels and Comics
The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman - Since I LOVE the t.v. show, I wouldn't mind reading the comic books. It would be interesting to see how the story lines compare.

Young Adult Fiction
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - Maybe this could be a book I recommend to my students? Sounds like an interesting story.

Happy reading! :)

--T

Quick & Easy Christmas Dessert

I think this is a great Christmas dessert, because it's not too heavy (after eating lots of other yummy food on Christmas) and has a reddish tint to it which is perfect for the holidays. I made it for a dessert exchange party, and it came in 3rd place out of 11.

Here is a picture of how I presented the dessert (in martini glasses with a candy cane)

 

I found the recipe on Pinterest (obviously!), and it's simple. For the dessert party I actually tripled it, because I needed enough for everyone to have a martini glass AND enough for everyone to take some home. Even after distributing the dessert to everyone, I still had enough to bring home and fill a medium sized bowl. The recipe listed here is the original recipe - feel free to double or triple depending on how many you are feeding.

1 can of cherry pie filling (I buy the biggest can they have)

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)

1 can crushed pineapple (8 oz)

2/3 bag of mini marshmallows

16-24 oz. Cool Whip (I use Cool Whip Lite)

Completely drain the pineapples (I squeezed the water out with my hands). Combine all the ingredients except the cherry pie filling and cool whip. Mix well. Then, fold in the cherry pie filling and fold in the cool whip. Cover and refrigerate - tastes better if you let it refrigerate overnight. 

The original link for the recipe can be found here.

--T

 

Need A Pillow?

Mark's cousin, Jami, has started a business making really cute pillows of all different sizes. The focus is on toddler pillows, tooth pillows, pillow cases, name pillows, and so on. These would make great Christmas gifts, and it's nice buying homemade rather than from a big name store.

Here are some pictures of some of the options. If you "like" the facebook page (Pillowsewcute), you can see fabric options, more pictures, pricing, and discounts.