Demoliate

I made up a word today. I actually like it quite a bit! It was totally by accident that it popped out of my mouth. I was training with my friend and we were totally destroying our legs. High volume training with moderate weight but lots of reps and sets. On the leg extension machine, I turned to her and said, "we are going to demoliate our quads today!" She started laughing and said, "wow, you must be serious". I figure I was trying to say ANNIHILATE and DEMOLISH at the same time. Anyways, I made some NUTTY TRUFFLES the other day. My usual taste tester (my 1 year old) enjoyed them quite a bit. I also had a couple new taste testers give them a try, my mother-in-law and father-in-law. Well, my father-in-law went back for seconds so I figure they're good enough to post the recipe. In a food processor put: 1 handful almonds, 1 handful pecans, 1 palmful flax seeds, 12 dates, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 handful oats. Blend until smooth, about 5 minutes. Roll mixture into golf ball size and drop into cocoa powder covering all sides.

Missing Sicily Already!

While I was down in Arizona I stopped at the Penzeys Spices store in Scottsdale. I absolutely LOVE Penzeys because the make truly the best spices I've ever used in my cooking. I'm on somewhat of a budget so I had to be selective of which spices I was going to purchase. As I was walking through the store I spotted the "Sicilian Salad Seasoning" and stopped for a whiff of the mixture. I was instantly in love, it smells like fresh Romano cheese! Of course I added it to my basket. After returning back to Utah I decided to try something yummy with the new found seasoning. This is what I came up with...

Sicilian Style Meatballs! They are clean eating of course. I ate the meatballs with a small side salad but the others in my family partaking in my new recipe are carb lovers and insisted they be served on top of pasta. But here is the recipe for the meatballs.

1 lb lean ground turkey. 1/2 cup brown rice bread crumbs. 5 tsp Sicilian Salad Seasoning. 2 egg whites. 1 tbs garlic seasoning. Mix all ingredients together and roll into meatballs. Pour approximately 2 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil into a pan and cook the meatballs on medium, tossing them every couple minutes to brown all sides of the meatballs.

My taste testers loved the meatballs over bowtie pasta (bowtie pasta cooked to al dente then tossed with 2 tbs butter and 3 more tsp of the Sicilian Salad Seasonings). I prefer a lighter carb dinner so I ate them with green veggies. Either way, delicious! Also, if you don't want to order the spices from Penzeys (which you are crazy if you don't at least try their stuff), you can try to put something together yourself. The Sicilian concoction consists of Romano cheese, salt, toasted onion, red bell pepper, tomato, white onion, paprika, Tellicherry black pepper, thyme, rosemary, cayenne and basil.

Lookin Purdy!

I love the look of false lashes. They make me feel super pretty and with a pair of heels, I feel UNSTOPPABLE! So what's cooler than false lashes? Eyelash extensions duh. It's pretty popular these days, I have lots of friends who swear by them. I've heard a couple of drawbacks such as 1)the up keep is expensive and 2)if you decide to stop wearing them your eyelashes are sparse and take awhile to grow back. I've had fake nails before and I figure it's about the same thing, so I jumped in head first (pun intended) into the chair and got 'em done.

What do you think? I love them. So if you're thinking of getting eyelash extensions here are my pros and cons. Pros: Never have to apply eyeliner or mascara. Instantly look like a HOT LADY when you wake up. Less time getting ready in the morning. Cons: Cost. If you have sensitive eyes it's absolute torture getting them attached. Fill in approximately every 3-6 weeks.

Long Time Coming....

Ya ya ya, I know! It's been a heck of a long time since my last blog post. So much has been going on and to be frankly honest with you, I'm just too dang tired at the end of my day to blog (yep, my brain is shutting down early, around 9:30pm usually). I'll try to fill you in as much as possible in as short of a post as possible. So I'm back in the states. For the first 3 weeks Kellen and I were getting into a schedule of how our lives would be functioning for the 3 months we would be living in Utah while Mike is gone. The first couple weeks were really hard on me. Not only was I away from my husband, I was trying to get over jet lag, I was also taking care of baby Kellen who was suffering not only from the 8 hour jet lag but a horrible cold bug that lasted 5 days. Then to make matters even worse he started teething just days after he got over his cold. Those molars are BRUTAL. Needless to say I pretty much didn't sleep for 2 weeks. On the fitness front, I started a new lifting program. PHAT Training (power hypertrophy adaptive training). It's a linear periodization in which your incorporating both power lifting and hypertrophy training in your weekly lifting split. Let me tell you, my body is sore every day of the week. I'm doing this program for two reasons, 1) to get stronger and 2)to grow my legs. Well, its working! My legs are getting thicker and my strength has increased in my lower body. So week 3 of being in the states was great. I was finally sleeping and getting into a schedule. Then last week we had to change it for a brief time to go meet my new nephew Braden. We drove down to Arizona with a brief stop in Phoenix to surprise my Aunts, Uncle, and Grand parents! It was great to finally introduce them all to my son Kellen, whom they've only seen pictures. Then the following day we picked up my sister Audra and headed down to Tucson to finally meet my sweet nephew Braden. He is as cute as the pictures. He was so good while we were in Tucson too, one night he even let his mommy Tina sleep for 6 hours. Way to go Braden, keep it up. It was wonderful seeing my brother too. He is so loving to his son Braden. I even made a couple recipes for everyone while I was down in Arizona. After all, clean eating is a lifestyle so it doesn't take a vacation. I did allow myself a little wiggle room for a couple of my favorite cheats, the Sonoran Hot Dog & some Chino Bandido's. Sunday was my 6 year Anniversary with my husband Mike, which is the second time we have had to spend our wedding anniversary apart. Poo. I got a great gift in the mail though, a brand new camera bag! So now we are finally back in Utah again and finally back in my own bed (well, my own bed from high school as I'm staying at my parents house). I think I shall try to make cleaner versions of my favorites from the trip, a healthier Sonoran Hot Dog and my Chino Bandido's Jade Chicken Quesidilla.