Debbie Meyer Green Bags

I'm still eating my way out of all the leftovers from cooking, so today let's delve into my #1 kitchen item I can't live without:

Debbie Meyer Green Bags (about $10 bucks for 10 medium and 10 large)

I use these for spinach because I always get halfway through a bag and then it turns to slime. Ugh. I use them for half of a bell pepper, chopped romaine lettuce, cucumber, strawberries, you name it. They actually work! I can proudly say that I buy twice as much spinach and use ALL of it. :D

The best part is that these are SO easy to quickly wash out, dry and reuse.

I wasn't sure how these would work out, I'm skeptical about any "As Seen On TV" product, but I tried them out on a whim. And I haven't gone back.

Do you use Green Bags? What is your #1 kitchen item?

Two Quick Book Reviews

I'm changing the way I do my book reviews. If you want to know how they turn out, you'll have to read up!

Catching Fire- This is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Katniss and Peeta continue their facade of being star crossed lovers as they tour the twelve districts. A shocking surprise at the final district is their worst nightmare: to return to the games with other past winners. I still liked the Hunger Games better, but this was definitely a page turner!

The Art of Racing in the Rain- This book started out alright, written from a dog's perspective of the world. He wishes he could speak, and that he has opposable thumbs. Then things take a dark turn. Much of the book was about the illness of his master's wife, serious criminal allegations and a bitter battle for custody of Denny' s daughter. As much as I enjoyed Marley and Me, I was truly disappointed with this book. Though the ending was very sweetly wrapped up.

Have you read either Catching Fire or The Art of Racing in the Rain? What did you think of them? What are your recent favorite reads?

Viva La Vegetables!

Pardon my horrible French. ;)

Today was my first day of freedom from work. Man, I miss having the summers off.

I started the morning at oh, 11:30 AM? Truth is, I woke up about 9:30 then laid in bed talking to my Honey and playing around on my new laptop.

So when I finally got up I was off to a late (but wonderful) start. Breakfast was a quick bowl of Fiber One Honey Clusters with half soy and half non fat organic milk. Though it is fine by itself, I like it better with bananas. Everything is better with bananas. (Note to self: buy bananas!)

With breakfast being so late, I didn't sit down to lunch until about 4. For lunch I had some cheese pizza and a spinach salad with orange bell pepper, organic shredded carrot, and cucumber.

Also two small and delicious peaches with some light vanilla Activia yogurt, topped with Grape Nuts. My Honey likes to call Grape Nuts gravel. I actually really, really like them though. :)

There was a little bit of brownie and some vanilla yogurt blends ice cream a little later...

And then to pilates! The Monday night instructor kicks my butt every time! I was one of the last to come in, so I got to be right at the front. :)

Dinner was done just before 9 pm. I had been looking forward to trying this recipe for a while, and finally FINALLY had a chance (and all the ingredients) to put it together.

Taco-Stuffed Pepper Cups

(adapted from Dashing Dish)

2 medium bell peppers, any color

1/2 pound lean ground beef (she used ground turkey, but I was craving beef)

2 tbs chopped onion

1 can black beans, drained

1 can corn, drained

1 c. salsa (I used peach pineapple salsa, though it seems like a strange choice, it blended well with the other flavors)

3 tbs. taco seasoning

1/4 c. reduced fat cheddar cheese (I accidentally picked up fat free, which worked in a pinch, but kind of tastes like plastic)

1/4 plain greek yogurt (it's a great replacement for sour cream!)

shredded lettuce

sliced black olives

1. Preheat oven to 350. Wash bell peppers, cut out tops, and remove seeds. Boil for about 3 minutes, remove and immediately rinse with cold water. Slice each pepper in half and arrange in a lightly greased baking dish.

2. Spray large pan with olive oil cooking spray, and turn to medium high heat. Add onion and ground beef until the ground beef is no longer pink. Add black beans, corn, salsa and taco seasoning. Simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Spoon mixture into each pepper half, (for some reason I ended up with a lot left over, but not to worry, I can make taco salad with the leftovers!) top with cheese and back on the upper rack for about 10 minutes.

4. Once the peppers are removed from the oven, I added greek yogurt, lettuce and olives.

I also made slow roasted sweet potatoes, which was surprisingly complimentary to the stuffed peppers. Lots of color and lots of veggies!

Unfortunately, you can't see much of the pepper in this photo. Moving on.

For a little bedtime snack, I had a bran muffin with some butter, and a glass of chocolate milk. Mmmm!

Do you like Grape Nuts? Do you ever replace sour cream with Greek yogurt?

Greatest Weaknesses = Greatest Strengths

I was reading Elle Magazine's body issue and noticed that a few other bloggers have recently written about acceptance of our bodies. So here comes my two cents on the subject! :)

I was thinking about the things I don't like about my body. You know, those tiny things that no one else really notices, but they seem so obvious to me. Then, I thought one step further about how those things I didn't like could be turned positive.

1. My teeth- I never had braces, and though I have a bit of an overbite, they're fairly straight, but a few of them could be a little straighter.

Here's me at my birthday at Joe's Crab Shack this past February.

The upside? I have amazing teeth. Seriously, my dentist says those exact words every 6 months. I've never, ever had a cavity and rarely use any type of whitening product (besides toothpaste). Pretty lucky.

2. I'm pear shaped, which means my hips are wider than my chest. Which also means J-Lo and I have a booty in common.

This is me last summer in Mexico. I'd done a good job of really toning up. To post this is to say I accept my hips, not airbrushed or photoshopped.

People who gain weight in their hips instead of their stomach are less likely to develop diabetes or heart disease. Ok, I'll take it! Here's also an article from Women's Health for Workout for Pear Shaped Bodies.

3. Lips- I used to get made fun of for my lips. They didn't seem to fit my face. Now, no worries about drawing them on with lipstick or applying plumping gloss. These babies are au natural!

Seeing how small my insecurities really are helps me to "get over myself" and worry about bigger things in life!

How did you turn your insecurities into something positive?

Final Feast

So yesterday was my last day at work. I'm going back to school to finish a few prerequisites and then apply to the nursing program at CWI next spring. I'm pretty sure I won't work at a place that loves food more than CPS. So I went out with a bang with a huge potluck. YUM.

So of course I had to try one of everything:

Ramen salad, potato salad, mini sandwich (ham, colbi jack cheese, cucumber) meatballs, baked beans (made with several bean types including butter beans, my fav!)

Next up:

Calazone! Made with a whole wheat crust, and stuffed with pepperoni, bacon, pepperoncini, onion, olives. Makes me want another one right now!

I also had some fresh fruit:

with some whipped cream of course!

Half way through chowing down on some veggies:

Sugar snap peas are my fav!

Oh, and then some delicious taco soup:

With cheese and sour cream, I kind of inhaled it before I took a picture. Thought about going back for more, but I was pretty full.

But not too full for dessert!

Cookie, brownie and raspberry Newtons (those made my day!)

Needless to say, I was not hungry for dinner!

After work, I took Hunter for a walk along the canal behind our house. Here's some Hunter love:

And here's a shameless plug to Container and Packaging Supply.

Does your work ever have pot lucks or people who bring in treats? What's your favorite place to go walking with (or without) your dog?

One of My Favorite Things!

*This is my first post with my new MacBook! :) Thanks Honey!*

There's nothing better at the end of the day than turning on some relaxing music, sinking into a warm tub and either closing my eyes and relaxing or reading some of a good book.

I think I may have mentioned this product a while back, but it was time to re-order so once again I make a plug for the bath salts made by San Fransisco Bath Salt Co.

**Just a note that I have no affiliation with this company, I just really, REALLY like their stuff!

It's a little easy to get lost in the tons and tons of product they sell, and all the color and scent options. You can start at their Spa Therapy page which has preselected scents and colors and grain sizes all wrapped up in a neat package. The 16 oz. jars look adorable in the bathroom and are a good size to test out!

I've tried Tranquility which is a foaming bath salt made with lavender, Ylang-ylang, and eucalyptus, Moon Dreams which has lavender and chamomille and Dead Sea Salt long known to moisturize skin and full of healing properties.

But my all time FAVORITE is:

Muscle Soak!! "Epsom salts infused with essential oils of Eucalyptus and Peppermint for added relief."

I buy this stuff in 10 lb bags, and it seriously soothes sore muscles after a long run, tough work-out or getting thrown off a dirtbike. ;)

With my regular order of Muscle Soak, I ordered a Skin Nourishing Milk Bath in Dulche de Leche. I immediately drew a bath to try it out. Ooooohhh, it was silky and decadent, and smelled delicious but not overly sweet.

If you use your muscles, go try this stuff. Do it. :D

Do you like to take baths? Do you use bubble bath or bath salts? Sometimes, I use both!

Pass the Pesto!

Ok, June 1st... forecast? Clouds and light rain. Uhm, seriously? Don't get me wrong, I spent nearly two years living in Victoria, BC (that's in Canada near Seattle, y'all) where it rains all year long. I like rain. I really, really do. But for goodness sake! It's JUNE in IDAHO!

Despite the sprinkling rain, I decided to try something new today. Vanilla Greek yogurt with raspberries! Normally, I don't care too much for raspberries. I was craving them today though, go figure. Speaking of figure, look what I figured out today!



Alright, I already knew how to put picture codes in my blog, I was just lazy, and it had been a little while. Pat myself on the back nontheless.

So besides the rain, I was just having a grumpy day. My dog ate a bunch of used Kleenex (pretty sure you don't want me to tell you how I found out), late for work, no motivation AT work since I have exactly 3 days left before I quit to return to school, wacky hormones, soreness from dirt biking over the weekend.

I REALLY wanted to order pizza and admit defeat. Still, I can't let all my wonderful produce spoil, so I mustered up the courage to cook. You know what? I felt better. Sometimes, when days are stressful, the thought of cooking stresses me out more. I learned something today. Cooking relieves stress, at least for me. By the time I finished, it was after 7, but I felt relaxed. Which meant I wasn't going to eat away the stresses of the day but actually enjoy my food.

So I made:



Instant Chicken and White Bean Stew

A little ridiculous for June, but the forecast said low 60's. It ended up being about 75 today, those weathermen don't know what they're talking about. C'est la vie!

Oh, right, the recipe:

1 small sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
2 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (I think I used 2 large ones, *shrug*)
1 can cannellini beans, drained
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 c. cooked diced chicken (once again, the Foster Farms frozen chicken strips from Costco came to my rescue!)
2 tbs prepared pesto

1. In a (good sized) nonstick skillet, over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add the zucchinni, and cook for a few minutes (remember, the zucchini will continue to cook while you're simmering the stew) then add the beans, and pepper. Heat to boiling, boil 2 minutes.

2. Add the chicken, return just to boiling for a few minutes, then remove from heat. Add the pesto. Let stand for 2 to 3 minutes to blend the flavors.

I only wish I had a little fresh Parmesean to sprinkle on top! Next time, I'll use more garlic because well, I can't get enough of that stuff.

I also made pierogies! If you haven't tried these you are MISS-ING OUT!




These are basically whipped potatoes with cheddar (or onion, or bacon depending on the flavor) inside a pasta shell. They are thought to have started in the Slavic region, so you'll find them in Ukrainian restaurants and the like. I bought mine frozen, then you boil them for about 3-5 minutes, then immediately transfer them into a hot pan drizzled with olive oil. Brown both sides until slightly crispy. Delish. Traditionally, they are cooked with bacon and onions and served with lots of sour cream. I chose to forgo the bacon and onions and served them with light sour cream blended with Greek yogurt.



I also had a small side salad with orange bell pepper, romaine, spinach, avocado, cucumber, tomato, fresh ground pepper and poppy seed dressing.

And for a late night snack while writing this blog, my two favorite summer fruit:



Pineapple and strawberries with some Tru Whip!