A New Way to Color Eggs

So yesterday I was pleasantly surprised when I was out and about running errands, and Mark texted me and asked "Do you want to color Easter eggs tonight?" I quickly said "Yes" before he could change his mind! I remembered a long time ago I pinned a link on Pinterest for coloring Easter Eggs with Kool Aid packets. I looked up the pin and went to Walmart. The Kool Aid packets are only 20 cents each, cheaper than the egg dying kits.

I followed the instructions found here and really all it involved was mixing the Kool Aid packet with 2/3 cup of water. Since I wasn't sure if this would work, I also bought an egg dying kit called Neon Eggs. We used both, but the Neon kit really sucked compared to the Kool Aid. The Kool Aid colors were so bright, and once you put the egg in, it was dyed. With the Neon kit we had to let the egg sit in the water for a while before the colors were bright enough. Some of them never ended up working.

I would highly recommend this egg dying method. Not only is it safe for kids (I don't know about you, but I'm not sure what's in those little tablets that you normally use to dye eggs), but it made my whole kitchen smell fruity! You don't have to use vinegar, let it dissolve, it was really quite effortless.

Here is a finished product of our eggs. Check out those bright colors!

--T

Motivation

So ever since I stopped doing the Insanity workout program (see previous posts) I have really been slacking in the exercise department. I have been to the gym a few times, I have started and stopped a Jillian Michaels exercise routine about three times, and I just can't get motivated again! What happened??

Actually I know what happened. My goal was to lose 15 pounds and so far I've lost 18.5. I've surpassed my goal and although there are still areas that I am unhappy with and areas that aren't as toned as when I was doing Insanity, overall I feel so much better and I know I look better. So I think now I've got the mindset of "I don't feel like working out today, I've lost weight, I've passed my goal, so no big deal" whereas before my mindset was "I HAVE to workout or I will never lose these love handles, I'll never lose weight and I'll never be comfortable with my body." Before it wasn't an option.

So, my question to those of you reading is: how does one get motivated again? Any ideas?

Does anyone want to do a buddy system? I have seen ideas like this on Pinterest.com. For every day we work out we put a dollar (or whatever) in a jar. After a certain period of time we take our money and go shopping together or for pedicures or something else fun and rewarding? Or instead of a time period what if we did it until we all reached $100 and then treated ourselves to something as a group? If we don't like money being involved are there other ideas?

Or if a buddy system isn't an option for some people, or exercising isn't part of your weight loss program, anyone have ideas as to how I can motivate myself??

--T

My New Chocolate Adventure

So a new adventure for me is becoming a Chocolatier with Dove Chocolate Discoveries. We are a catalog based company that sells exclusive high quality chocolate products. The products are seriously amazing! We sell everything from chocolate covered fruit to chocolate chipotle salsa to chocolate martini mixes.

**Need a Mother's Day gift? For the month of April ONLY we are selling a box of 24 cake-flavored truffles for $39. You can have them shipped anywhere you want and shipping is included in the $39 cost. There are three flavors: buttercream cupcake, cake truffle, and german chocolate. This would make such a unique and yummy gift**

Since we are a catalog based company, I rely mostly on people hosting chocolate tasting parties. The parties are so much fun, because I bring a ton of samples to eat and drink for all the guests. Plus, as the hostess, you get great benefits, including a ton of free products! The best part about it is the hostess doesn't have to provide anything except some beverages for the guests, and a few dipping items like pretzels, graham crackers, and carrots. I bring everything with me.

As a Chocolatier, I don't really have to do too much "work" and enjoy the parties as much as the guests. I do earn a commission (a pretty nice one too!) based on my sales and also earn free products (so far, in addition to my commission I have also earned about $160 in free stuff!). It is a blast!

I was actually featured in the Dove Newsletter as having the 4th highest sales at a party ($850). Among my team (at least 30 people), I was ranked #1 in party sales and ranked #4 with overall sales ($1,018.50) and that's just in my first month! I'm excited to see if I can keep up these numbers. 

If anyone is interested in hosting a party or becoming a chocolatier, feel free to contact me for more information.

Feel free to view my website: www.mydcdsite.com/tracyavignone

or

my Facebook page (which you can click "like" on to stay up to date with new promotions and specials, as well as recipes): www.facebook.com/tracysdcdpage

--T

My New Favorite Restaurant

Thank you to Nicole and Katie for telling me about this great restaurant (on separate occasions).

The name of the restaurant is Seasons 52, and there is a location in Schaumburg and also in Oak Brook. Mark and I went to the Oak Brook location last weekend.

The restaurant is named for the four seasons and the 52 weeks in the year. Each season their menu changes (so they have a winter, summer, spring, and fall menu), and every week (hence, the 52), within the seasonal menu they offer different items based on what is fresh, in season, or being sent by the farmers and providers. The best part about this restaurant is NOTHING on the menu is over 475 calories. Yes, you read that right!

Mark and I started with a flatbread pizza as an appetizer which was very thin and crispy and had tomatoes, basil, and cheese on it. We loved it! For dinner, I had goat cheese ravioli and a spinach salad. I could have actually done without the spinach salad. It was delicious, but the appetizer and ravioli was enough to fill me up. The goat cheese ravioli was amazing, and even though it was pasta, it was only 300 calories. Mark had scallops and asparagus, which he enjoyed as well. For dessert they serve mini desserts, so we each tried one (mine was double chocolate and Mark's was peanut butter and chocolate).

Now, we did over eat, mostly because we were so excited about the food options and the place in general and couldn't decide on what we wanted! So I think my meal was still around 800 calories, BUT for an appetizer, entree, salad, and dessert, that's really not bad for a restaurant. If you look at my previous post about restaurants, even salads can be over 1,000 calories! I think next time I could probably skip the appetizer and the dessert.

Seasons 52 considers itself to be a wine bar as well, so if you enjoy wine you might enjoy some of the wines they have to offer.

The dress code is upscale casual. It's okay to wear jeans, but I wouldn't go in wearing a t-shirt and shorts or a sweatshirt.

I wish they had locations closer to us - if they had one nearby I would be there all the time!

To view their website, click here.

--T

The Technology Age...

...has ruined us as friends, communicators, thinkers, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I love my cell phone, my laptop, Facebook, and all other technological tools and gadgets, but I do think that it has had a negative impact on our society.

Remember the days when we used to write letters to each other in school? I couldn't WAIT to see my friends and give them a note. Kids don't do that anymore! I have been teaching for six years and have only confiscated one note. Now, you may be thinking, "Why would a teacher WANT her students to pass notes in class?" Good question! It's not that I necessarily want them passing notes, but at least when we wrote to each other we were....well....writing! The quality of writing today is horrible. Students turn in research papers and essays without punctuation, capitalization, and they use texting shortcuts! That is definitely the result of less written communication.

Did you know that schools stopped teaching cursive? Writing has become so obsolete that students in junior high cannot read cursive (and that's the truth. I wrote a sentence on the board in cursive last year and a student raised their hand and said, "I can't read that"). 

I used to have friends that I would write letters to and put in the mail. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone and mailed it via the mailman? What about birthday cards? I used to get birthday cards from many people - probably at least 10-12 of them. How many did I get on my last birthday? Two! Everyone says "Happy birthday!" on Facebook and thinks they are covered. I have been guilty of this in the past, but I have decided that I won't take part in it anymore. I tried to avoid all the meaningless "Happy Birthdays" on my last birthday by taking my birth date off of Facebook, but once one person posts, everyone sees it and then people end up wishing you happy birthday anyways.

Last week I receive a "Just Because" card in the mail from my best friend and it seriously made my whole week! It was just what I needed and it made me realize that I need to do more of that as well.

I just want everyone to stop and think and see if technology is running your life, and if it is, maybe make it a point to send a letter, send a card, or call someone just to say hi this week. I'm sure it would make that person's day and in turn you will feel great as well!

--T

I Did It!!!

I just completed the Insanity workout program! I have to admit, I'm very proud of myself. The Insanity program is 9 weeks of intense workouts, 6 days a week. The first month is considered level one, then there is a one week recovery week which includes a lighter exercise routine, and the second month is considered level two. You can scroll through my blog to see past posts on my feelings about the Insanity program. In a nutshell, the first month was really tough, but the second month was literally "insane." The workouts got harder and longer.

If you are going to do this program, I suggest you commit to doing it 100%. It's very easy to make excuses why you can't do the workout or why you don't have time for it, but if that's the case, you are not going to see results. In 9 weeks, I only missed one workout (I had a straightening treatment done to my hair and couldn't sweat or get it wet for 48 hours). This means that sometimes I did workouts at 10:00 at night (or later!). I did not see a point in doing this program if I wasn't going to do it right.

Now, I'm not saying I can do the workouts the way Shaun T. and the other people do them in the video. Case in point: I cannot do a pushup to save my life. I just don't have the upper body strength. I did a pushup challenge a few months ago through a different company and had to do the "girl" pushups, or pushups using a wall or counter. However, that doesn't really work with this program, because of the types of pushups they do. So, when it would come to the pushup portions of the videos, instead, I would do a plank, or situps, crunches, or some other type of exercise. Additionally, sometimes I had to take more breaks than what they allot you in the video. But overall, I did my best and gave it my all.

On Day 1 you do a fit test and record how many reps of specific exercises you can do. Then you do this fit test every couple of weeks and end the program with it to see if you improve along the way. I will post my results just for Day 1 and Day 63 (the final day).

Exercise                     Day 1                  Day 63
Switch Kicks               75                        133
Power Jacks                40                         46
Power Knees               75                        106
Power Jumps               25                         35
Globe Jumps                 8                           9
Suicide Jumps              10                        20
Push Up Jacks*           15                         27
Plank Obliques            15                         32

*I did girl pushups instead.

Weight lost - I lost 6 lbs. total while doing the program.
Inches lost -  I wish I had measured myself before starting, but I did take before and after pictures (and pictures during - see previous blog posts). Again, I wish I had done it differently, because I would have taken pictures of my legs and butt too. I know those have shrunk, because of the way my pants fit. However, this is the only picture I have. I think you can see the difference though :)

 

The question people keep asking me is "What do you do next? Do you start the program over?" For me, the answer is HELL NO. I saw results, I feel accomplished, I'm happy I did it, but I think it was a one time thing for me :) However, my plan now is to go back to the gym for about 30 minutes of cardio (or more depending on my schedule), and then come home and do Jillian Michaels's "30 Day Shred" video. I have heard that this is a good workout that produces good results. I will post updates on how that goes much like I did with Insanity. I read online that you are supposed to do the program 2 days on, 1 day off, so that will be my plan. If anyone has comments or feedback on "30 Day Shred" please share!

--T

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