June 2010

Let's Hear it for the Boy

by Heather on June 30, 2010

Y’all remember this one?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnuYhFRYbAw&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

I doubt there’s a better way to start off a Wednesday morning that by hearing that song!

Well, and if that doesn’t do it for you, what about this sweet face?

That’s my little baby girl just waiting to leave for work…too cute, right? Speaking of faces, I managed to stuff this awesome chorizo burrito into mine:

I’ll be honest, for this past week it feels like we’ve been eating out a lot, and Nate confirmed that same thought today. I don’t know what it is, but we either haven’t had the time and/or haven’t made time to cook and eat at home…sad! I drowned my sorrows in some dark chocolate for about 14 seconds:

And then continued to sulk because we are getting to the point with eating out where everything starts to taste the same. Do you ever get like that? Where every restaurant starts to taste the same, whether it’s sushi or Italian. Then, like a beacon in the night, Nate prepared only the most wonderful salad on the planet for me from scratch. LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY!!!

Greens, tomato, carrot, avocado, some shredded cheese, slivered almonds, chicken, and a drizzle of avocado ranch. Plus a slab of baguette to make sure I got it all AMAZING. Seriously though, this salad was everything I could ask for and then some. Thank you sweetheart! :*

After washing my dishes I realized there were some leftover treats in the break room, so I promptly got the last bit of a pumpkin scone…reminded me of Thanksgiving and made me wish for cooler weather

I ended up just walking on my lunch break today since my feet are still covered in blisters from my genius barefoot walking escapades yesterday. To be honest, they’re still quite sore! So clearly I needed a Greyhound (vodka, grapefruit juice, twist of lime) before dinner tonight!

Who’s this? Heather, I thought you said you were a dog person? Yes, yes, you’re right…I am. This guy is PG:

PG. Like Parental Guidance. Or Porcupine Giggles. Or Plumb Gelato (YUM). Or Pussy Gato, which is actually his name This is Robbie & Stef’s cat, who is likely the only cat I will ever like. Ever. Hear that, PG? We’re exclusive now!

Dinner was a big salad with roasted corn in it (genius and absolutely amazing!)

And an array of burgers, brats, or hot dogs to choose from:

I did the burger on a wheat bun with pepperjack and mustard, the side salad with Italian dressing, and this really cool smashed potato:

Smashed potato = a potato that has been boiled and then smashed, then broiled with herbs and fragrant olive oil. NOM.

We had a great night and I came to a realization that I don’t feel like I’ve shared on here yet because of the fact that when I write something I almost feel bound by it, so if I don’t stick with it (whatever ‘it’ is) then I feel like a failure. Which is something I’m working on, but regardless I thought I should share this with you guys:

I’m finally starting to find true freedom from disordered thinking and eating.

Now, that’s a bold statement, but let me explain. For the past 4 weeks or so I’ve noticed myself slowly being OK with only eating if I’m hungry, stopping when I’m full, and not obsessing over eating a tad too much or exercising a tad too little. It’s been a slow change, and it’s certainly nowhere near perfect, but I’m just so thankful to be finding any freedom at all that it’s huge! Another thing…I’ve noticed that this freedom has come as I’ve become more engaged in reading my Bible and truly praying in a relational way with God. Coincidence? I think not!

What have you found freedom in recently? What have you been able to let go of? What triggered that change in you? I think I pretty much shared mine, but I’ve also become OK with not looking at my stats 25 times a day for the blog, and actually have felt happier because of it! I’m tellin’ ya, it’s the little things!

{ 25 comments }

Ice Cream for Breakfast

by Heather on June 29, 2010

Did I get your attention? Of course I did! Who wouldn’t love ice cream for breakfast?

No one…no one wouldn’t love ice cream for breakfast.

Especially if I told them it would be good for them!

Readers, meet Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Ice Cream. Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Ice Cream, meet my readers.

Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Ice Cream

1/3 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup almond milk (or whatever milk you prefer)
2 Tbsp flax seeds (you could also sub chia seeds if you have them)
1.5-2 frozen bananas
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 Tbsp peanut butter

Mix the oats, flax, and almond milk together in a bowl. Set aside (I put mine in the fridge) for 20-30 minutes to let the oats soften. In a food processor combine all ingredients. Pulse a few times, and then process until smooth.

This little brain-baby came from me being lazy and not prepping Vegan Overnight Oats the night before and just deciding it would be easier to combine VOO and banana soft serve together. Voila! Ice cream for breakfast was born I will say that there is a little bit of chew to it from the oats, but I thought it tasted like those oatmeal-chocolate-peanut butter no-bake cookies!

NOM. NOM. NOM. So surely with such a fabulous breakfast I had an amazing lunch, right? Mmm, not so much. In fact I didn’t eat lunch at all (a combination of not being hungry and not having any food available at work) and decided to go on a walk instead. Oh, but wait! I forgot my shoes at home, so I decided that must mean the walking gods wanted me to walk with no shoes. Right? Right.

And so, I am sorry to say, I walked a mile with no shoes, sat with my feet in Boulder creek for 20 minutes (and exfoliated them using the sand in the riverbed) and walked back another mile, only to find that the entire ball of each foot is now a blister.

Woops.

Thank goodness I only had to hobble through the office a few times after I got back! We ended up staying in Boulder for a bit to work through some marital counseling with friends, and I had the always-awesome Panera meal of 1/2 a Greek salad:

And 1/2 of a Mediterranean veggie sandwich:

Honestly for some reason this salad was gross and I immediately wished I’d only ordered the sandwich. Live and learn, right? We had so much fun getting to learn more about this amazing couple and hope to high heaven that we’ll be able to make it to their wedding in Dallas!

(Dear American or Southwest, Please send tickets. Love, Heather)

So, let us talk about vacations since Lord knows I could use one right about now. I’ve been blessed to have parents who have showed my sister and I a lot of the country through road trips and vacations, and for that I am so completely thankful. I was just thinking that a road trip to California sounds more than incredible right now! We have family in Northern California, and I have been wanting to go visit for some time now! Just thinking about a trip through the wine country and going to all of the amazing wineries with my family makes my heart smile

If you could go anywhere in the US (US only!) RIGHT THIS SECOND, where would it be? Ready, set, GO!

{ 31 comments }

ManBurger

by Heather on June 28, 2010

There’s a verse in Deuteronomy that says that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3)…but yesterday I lived by BOTH!

As I mentioned before, I made the Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls for church yesterday. I had to have a tester though…you know, quality control!

The recipe seriously makes the most ENORMOUS amount of rolls! I had two 9×13 pans and one 8×8 pan completely packed in there!

So yeah, I might’ve ended up eating the equivalent of 5 rolls…oops. I have no excuse for myself on that one…I just couldn’t resist the buttery, crunchy-sugary, soft, doughy combination! If only everyone at church had eaten them all…that’s right, I just blamed it on everyone else!

Lunch/dinner was at our pastor’s house. Nate was in charge of bacon. We like bacon.

And this is where I saw the difference between men and women. Cast your eyes on the WomanBurger, complete with mustard, lettuce, fresh tomato, and red onion, with a side of salad and carrot sticks. Heavenly, right?

BEHOLD: THE MANBURGER!

That monstrosity is what happens when you take 5 over-zealous men who love meat, bacon, bread, and daring one another to do crazy things. Like make (and eat) their weight in burgers. Time for everyone to meet our pastor, Michael. See Michael smile:

See Michael’s face contort to fit the burger in.

See Michael’s anaconda jaw go on lock down with the ManBurger:

Total domination.

Now I’m hungry. I think that’s the main difference between the WomanBurger and the ManBurger…

I know that this post is KIND OF lacking in content, and honestly I’m totally aware of that. It’s been an emotional roller coaster of a weekend, and when I was trying to think of things to say, it all ended up being things that I really can’t discuss on here. Anyway, I just wanted to let y’all know that and ask your forgiveness! I should be back to my normal self soon

SO…let’s talk burger toppings! First of all, WomanBurger or ManBurger? And what toppings do you want on there?! I’m a ManBurger fan myself (TWSS), and I always love cheese (duh), onions, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, bbq sauce…basically the works, minus mayo!

{ 31 comments }

Kitchen Adventures

by Heather on June 27, 2010

Hello hello! I hope you guys had a fabulous weekend so far! I know mine has seen its share of ups and downs, but mostly ups

[Thanks so much for all of your Marriage Ref Friday votes! There were a lot of you who thought it was unreasonable, and a lot of you who thought it made perfect sense! Turns out my co-worker's hubby has ALREADY TRAINED the dog to pee in the rocks! Way to go, right?!?!]

Just to backtrack a bit, Friday’s eats were a little weird. First off, I made a “purple slurple” as Ashley calls ‘em:

That bad boy had 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, 1 small banana, 2 Tbsp milled flax, and 1/2 a packet of NuNaturals stevia. I only drank about 1/3 of it though – it was WAY too sweet, and the flax blended in there? Not so hot. Still, for some reason I was full all morning long! Guess that’s what happens when work is super busy…you just forget about hunger all together!

At lunchtime I had the last of the pineapple salsa and a handful of chips, even though I wasn’t hungry:

With a “snack” of Diet Coke, a few Twizzler bites, and a yellow Starburst. Hold the phone, this is a healthy/happy living blog?!?!?!

For dinner we had the ever-fabulous Little Caesar’s $5 pizza and a couple of breadsticks. Turns out we were hungry I guess!

We ended up hanging out at home all evening and I watched, oh, about 3 hours of Gangland. What’s that you ask? Oh, it’s just this little show about real gangs and how they live, complete with interviews and videos of the violence. No big deal. I topped those 3 hours off with a little Say Yes to the Dress and Battle of the Wedding Designers. That’s a totally normal Friday night, right?!

Yesterday we slept in a bit, and went over to Jason & Stephanie’s to hang out for a bit at their garage sale (they’re having a baby BOY by the way! Woohoo!) Then we went to Harpo’s in Boulder to watch the US vs Ghana World Cup match with some friends from work. I split some nachos with Nate and had 2 Vodka + Sprites…YUM!

Dinner was one of those frozen dinners that you basically just cook in a skillet…skillet dinner, perhaps?

Bowtie pasta, grilled chicken, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, red onions, and peppers…mmmmmm Just the right amount of food too! When we were done eating I got started on the 2 kitchen adventures of the weekend: Bell’Alimento Limoncello and Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls (which we’ll talk about in another post)!

When it comes to favorite smells, fresh lemons are right up there on top for me. They’re so incredibly fresh and clean! And who doesn’t love that bright yellow color?! The recipe is simple: 1 Liter pure grain alcohol, 10 lemons, 3 cups of sugar, and 4.5 cups of water. At first you only need the lemons and alcohol though!

After you clean and dry all of the lemons, take a vegetable peeler and get the rind, but NO PITH, off of each lemon. I was a little concerned about this step, but you just have to be gentle with the peeler. Once you get all of the rind off, put it in an air-tight container and pour in the pure-grain alcohol:

Put the lid on tight, and store in a cool, dark place (I have mine in my pantry). It steeps for about 10 days, and then you add the simple syrup. We’ll do that in about 10 days, though For now I’m just so glad that Paula‘s such a fabulous cook and has such easy-to-follow recipes!

What did YOU do this weekend? Anything fun and exciting? Did you watch the World Cup at all? We had a very low-key weekend, but it was absolutely perfect! Just makes me wish I could pause time on Saturdays…

P.S. I’m so thankful for ALL OF YOU! Thank you for being wonderful

{ 19 comments }

Happening Right Now

by Heather on June 25, 2010

What’s that? Another post title requiring an explanation?! Don’t worry, we’ll get there For now, though, HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

So I tried something new for breakfast yesterday…chocolate peanut butter banana soft serve on top of plain yogurt on top of a sliced banana:

Don’t be fooled by that pretty face…it was not really that good. BUT at least I can say I tried it, right?! The only thing was there was a stark contrast (in a bad way) between the sweetness of the soft serve and the tartness of the yogurt. Apparently one doesn’t think of these things at 7AM…regardless, now we know!

Mid-morning snack was my Friday treats inspired by the Coconut Cream Topped Brownies from How Sweet Eats!

I say “inspired” because this was yet another instance where I didn’t have all of the ingredients the recipe actually called for, so I made do with coconut flavoring and toasted coconut on top rather than the full gamut of amazingness the Jessica recommends Still delicious though! For lunch I prepared some leftover spelt berry salad topped with pineapple salsa:

I also had a small plate with a few leftover asparagus spears, mashed potatoes, and chips for dipping the salsa mixture:

My fickle stomach decided that the spelt berry salad combo was just not cutting it, so I ate the pineapple salsa off with the chips and then devoured the mashed potatoes and asparagus. What else could I do? If the tummy wasn’t having it, it wasn’t happening!

I took a walk on my lunch break and just about DIED from the heat (woe is me! I live in Colorado and complain about heat…anyone else see anything wrong here?)! Seriously though, it was HOT outside…I had to stop in the shade a couple times because I felt like I was about to keel over…

As soon as we got home I knew exactly what I was making for dinner:

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program I was offered a coupon (rephrase: I signed up for a coupon) for a free Buitoni meal for 2:

And with beliefs like this could you blame me?!

Buitoni, you are correct! Exceptional meals don’t require a ton of ingredients or special packaging! This is what came in the box…a package of ravioli and a package of garlic butter sauce:

It was incredibly easy to prepare: put the sauce in the water you’re going to boil the pasta in before it starts boiling. When it starts boiling, add the pasta, and boil for another 5 minutes. Drain the pasta, cut open the sauce packet, mix. ANNIHILATE.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy! In all seriousness though, this had amazing flavor. I would recommend salting the water (I didn’t and wish the pasta was a LITTLE saltier), but otherwise the filling was fantastic and the sauce had great flavor and consistency. Thinking back on it now I should have done a shot of a ravioli cut open, but there was a TON of lobster and shrimp in every bite! I was also encouraged to see that a serving was actually more than just a couple ravioli, too. So many times you find a frozen meal for 2 that has the tiniest portions, but this was just right!

Thanks Foodbuzz and Buitoni!

MARRIAGE REF FRIDAY

This Marriage Ref Post deals with something that is actually happening right now (hence the post title)! One of my co-workers and her husband recently purchased their first home – a brand new house that doesn’t even have grass in the yard yet! Awesome, right?!

They also have a 3-year old female Viszla who is housebroken.

The husband is very passionate about their yard’s potential, and therefore is trying to convince his wife (my co-worker) to re-train the dog to only pee and poop in the rock bed on the side of the yard before he ever lays the sod. The reasoning (from what I understand) is that he doesn’t want the dog’s urine to kill the grass that he’s planning on working very hard to keep green and clean from dog waste.

SO the question today (for my co-worker!) is this: Is it reasonable for her husband to expect her to re-train the dog to pee and poop in the rocks rather than in the grass? Make sure you let us know in the comments!

{ 30 comments }

I'm Really Italian Now!

by Heather on June 24, 2010

This title needs explaining; I know this

Yesterday was another Vegan Overnight Oat & Banana Soft Serve combo, this time with a little peanut butter and cocoa powder mixed into the soft serve:

Again, delicious! Honestly, it’s still kind of weird eating cold oatmeal, but the soft serve MAKES it! Plus it keeps me full for hours Yesterday was “ride your bike to work day” in Boulder, but I didn’t since I was still not feeling 100% and we take our dogs to work. For some reason I just didn’t want to ride my bike 15 miles in with 2 huge dogs (crazy, I know)! Either way, there was a massive bowl of fruit for everyone at the office, so I made sure to snag a bunch of cherries for a snack:

I’m really picky about the fruit that I eat, but these were amazing. I love cherries! Reminds me of the time in college that I was in a horrible mood (only happened once, right Nate? ) and Nate got me a bag of cherries at the store. We ate THE.ENTIRE.BAG in one sitting, and I loved it! Anyway, they were good Lunch was some leftover Spelt Berry, Black Bean, and Edamame Salad, a cubed grilled chicken breast, and about 1/2 a cup of Pineapple Salsa:

Heaven in a bowl! I love the chew of the spelt berries, and the salsa is seriously perfect: sweet from the pineapple, but has just enough heat from the Rotel and the jalapenos. Funny story about the spelt berries…I had HUGE plans to make Angela’s In a Jiffy Spelt Burgers, and, without reading the recipe, went to Whole Foods and bought 6 cups of spelt berries from the bulk bin. That night I actually sat down to look at the recipe before dinner, and found out that she uses spelt flour, not berries, and I haven’t used them ever since. So let that be a lesson to all of us: make sure you read the recipe before buying the ingredients!

Another example is last night I was planning on using up 2 huge potatoes for Bell’ Alimento’s Gnocchi al Burro e Salvia (gnocchi with butter and sage sauce), but apparently missed the fact that it calls for fresh grated parmesan cheese. What’s a food blogger to do when she is missing a key ingredient and has a hungry husband in the house? Improvise!

OK. I really just put myself out there for you guys…and I’m slightly embarrassed! I found those packets of “parmesan” in our cabinets and just hoped for the best! While the potatoes were boiling for the gnocchi I cut them all open and put it in a tupperware container for later use. Phew. It’s out there, let’s move on shall we? I decided to roast up some frozen broccoli:

And made a dijon-brown sugar glaze to bake some salmon in (I don’t recommend putting the parmesan on the salmon…yet another little kitchen mishap…):

And obviously the gnocchi. OH THE GNOCCHI! I didn’t have fresh sage, so I used a small sprinkling of ground dried sage, and it was completely amazing! I also browned my gnocchi a little bit (that’s just a preference of mine) in the butter, died, and went to heaven. I also loved the feeling of boiling the potatoes, smashing them up, using my arm muscles to mix the flour and egg in, rolling it out, and cutting it. It just felt so RUSTIC, you know? If I had all the time in the world I would make my own pasta every single day, and love every second of it! Because I’m really Italian now

Is it bad that I’m drooling still over this amazing dinner?

So there you have it: despite the spelt berry mishap, the parmesan crisis, and the lack of fresh sage, I would call last night (and the night before) kitchen successes! Plus I’m for-real-Italian…who could beat that?!

What’s the craziest thing you’ve used to sub in a recipe because you didn’t read the ingredient list carefully?

AND

What food do you make that makes you feel AUTHENTICALLY part of that cuisine’s culture? I can’t really think of something that’s really CRAZY different than something on an ingredient list, mainly because I just decide to make something else if that’s the case…shows how adventurous I am, huh? And I would say that rolling out pasta, kneading bread dough, and hand-stirring ingredients for both make me feel truly Italian, which I love. Because, even though I might only be Italian by marriage, I FEEL Italian in my heart!

{ 25 comments }

The Joyful Kitchen VII

by Heather on June 23, 2010

Good morning y’all! Thanks so much for all of your sweet get-well wishes…they must’ve worked too because I’m definitely a lot better!

Yesterday the only thing I could eat (before dinner) was some Vegan Overnight Oats with Chocolate Banana Soft-Serve!

I’ll be honest, I tried overnight oats a while back and was NOT a fan of the cold oats, but this was INCREDIBLE! Adding the banana soft serve made all the difference in the world, and I’ve now found my newest obsession

The rest of the day was spent sleeping and folding laundry while sitting on my bed, which I think helped me get better much faster (the sleeping, not the laundry). Come time for dinner I was STARVING and super thankful that food actually sounded good! I decided to make some Pineapple Salsa, a recipe that I’ve been making since a collegiate stint at a local burrito place (they’re now closed). I gathered up all the ingredients!

Pineapple Salsa

2 small cans Rotel Original, 1 drained and 1 with the liquid
1 can of crushed pineapple, drained
1 large red onion
2 jalapenos (I seeded one and left the other intact. The heat is all in the seeds and the membranes, so if you don’t want it to be spicy then remove all of the seeds and membranes from both jalapenos)
1 bunch of cilantro
3-4 Roma tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp garlic powder

Rough chop all of the fresh ingredients (tomatoes, jalapenos, onion, cilantro) and combine all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until desired consistency is reached. It should look something like this:

And it will taste like HEAVEN. Seriously, this salsa is the best I’ve ever had, and as a proud Texan-living-in-Colorado, I know my salsa. Don’t worry; I’m expecting several marriage proposals after this one, but just so you know Nate’s already got my heart

We also had some Spelt Berry, Black Bean, and Edamame Salad, based on this recipe:

When I made it I didn’t have onions or wheat berries, so I used onion powder and spelt berries, and used some carrots in there for extra color and some sweetness. Honestly it’s a little bland, but nothing that a little Pineapple Salsa can’t fix! We each had a fajita-spiced (loosely based on this spice mix recipe) grilled chicken breast as well:

So good, and a perfect summer meal! We each had some unpictured tortilla chips with our salsa as well

Dessert was a store-bought ice cream cookie sandwich, which was the perfect ending.

I’m happy to say that I was able to keep all of the food down, and it feels good to have finally eaten!

The Joyful Kitchen VII: Joy in Faith

I’ve been holding off on this topic during the entire Joyful Kitchen series because I wanted to make sure that I did it justice and was able to clearly voice my beliefs in a way that would help and bless all of my readers. It’s also a difficult topic because I know that not everyone will agree with everything that I have to say, but it is something I believe everyone needs to hear! Let’s just jump right in, shall we?

I grew up with an amazing family: two parents who modeled a great love for one another, a great love for me, and a great love for God. I grew up in the church, and felt that I had a firm understanding of who God is and what He meant in regards to my life. When I was in 3rd grade, I “accepted Jesus into my heart” at a Methodist summer camp, which meant to me that I was saved from going to hell when I died. From then on I defined myself as a Christian, and made every attempt to not “misbehave” for fear of tarnishing that reputation.

In 7th grade is when my disordered eating began, but I pretended nothing was wrong and never addressed the issues within my heart that were causing me to despise food. In high school I took diet pills, but still never thought anything was wrong. In college I took diuretics and over-exercised, and STILL never thought anything was wrong. However, at one point (and I don’t remember the catalyst) I realized that my thought patterns and behaviors towards food were not healthy and were not God-honoring. In the days following I decided to re-dedicate my life to Christ, but still had no firm understanding of what that meant.

You see, I knew how to go through all of the motions, but I had no idea what it meant to actually live out what God really calls me to do: love Him with all my heart, mind, and soul, and then to love others as I love myself (Matthew 22:37-40). I didn’t know how to do this because I didn’t know how to love myself. At that point in time I’d learned to base my entire self-worth on my food intake and not on the woman that I was created to be.

I’ll be 100% honest here: there is no turning point for me in this, but rather a lot of mini-turning points. Just when I think I have it all figured out, I’m presented with a new way that I put myself above God and everyone else, and there’s an eminent downfall that follows. And I’m still learning how to submit to His will for my life, one day at a time. So how do I find joy in faith?

The biggest thing is to remember that God’s plan for my life is greater than anything I could ever imagine. I think it’s important to understand that I’m not preaching the “health, wealth, and prosperity gospel” here. Just because God’s plan is great doesn’t mean that I’m going to be a gazillionaire next week, have ripped 6-pack abs, or a closet full of designer jeans that is the envy of all of my friends. It means that I am gifted in certain areas, and that God will use those gifts for His glory…which is my wish as well. As I said in this post, my hope is that this blog and my life will be used to change the world, one person at a time.
God is for me. I remember my friend Stephanie saying those very words about a year ago and coming to the realization, for the first time, that God is not some cosmic deity just waiting for me to screw up. His will for my life is to follow wholeheartedly after Him with a full understanding that He loved me enough to send Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. If God would do that thousands of years before I was born, it’s silly for me to think that I’m in this struggle of sin and life alone: God is with me and God is for me. And He’s with you and for you too.
I am loved. I’ll be the first to admit it, but I’ve had a very privileged life. Any hardship I’ve faced has been because of something I’ve done to sabotage myself. However, for some reason I never felt like God loved me enough to keep me from myself. Thing is, I had to go through the crap to fully understand the full scope of the love that God (and my family and my friends) has for me. It brings me unlimited joy to know that, despite my issues, I am unconditionally loved and adored.
Love others. I’m slowly learning to love myself, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love others. I try to show love to others daily through my words and my food. Showing love to other people brings joy that nothing else can, and it means that God is working through me to change the world, whatever that looks like.

I don’t know if I’ve clearly explained my beliefs, but if you have any questions at all please feel free to ask me. What it all comes down to is I’m willing to let God use me for good in this world, and even though I get in the way of that many times, I’m thankful for His forgiveness and love in my life.

I love you all and I am so thankful for every single one of you! Happy Wednesday

{ 25 comments }

Sickly

by Heather on June 22, 2010

BLAH. I am NOT feeling well at all today…in fact, I feel like I’m in a constant state of needing to throw up…sounds fun right?

Yesterday’s breakfast was on the fly:

Plain nonfat yogurt, a banana, and a crumbled Mama Pea KIND bar! So yummy and so quick Too bad I felt gross all morning and couldn’t enjoy the fact that I had a yummy breakfast. However, I got an email from a co-worker about some Southern-Style Bread Pudding with a Rum Glaze. Really, who would turn that down?

I told her that I was born again in that bread pudding…and I meant it! Again, though, I felt totally sick and couldn’t eat anything afterwards. Being sick is not fun, not even a little bit. On my lunch break, rather than walking, I decided to take a nap in my car. I slept for about 45 minutes, then grabbed a Lean Cuisine at Target because I felt better after sleeping!

About halfway through I got sick AGAIN. It’s been rough going since then too…I’m super hungry, but all food sounds disgusting and I can’t be too far from a bathroom (sorry if that’s TMI), and I am still in a constant state of nausea. So BLECH to that!

Anyone have any suggestions as to what this might be? Or anything that might make me feel better? I’m afraid to eat because it only makes me sick and everything sounds disgusting – that is not OK! I love great food too much to be turned off by it!

Also, I’m working on a total blog redesign…and I want and need your feedback! If you could let me know what colors you associate with Heather’s Dish, what other topics you might want to read about, and even what blogs you really love to read (you can include your own!), that would be extremely helpful. Please feel free to either leave a comment OR email me! Thanks guys

{ 27 comments }

40 Years

by Heather on June 21, 2010

Happy 40th Anniversary to my parents (yesterday!!!)

40 years?! AMAZING. My sister and I have the best parents in the world, and I know that it’s safe to say that we are both SO PROUD of them in every way. We are so thankful to have such a loving example of an amazing and God-centered marriage…our parents, although not perfect, have modeled a wonderful relationship and encouraged us to not accept anything less than a partner who loves us just the way we are and pushes us to be the people we can become. Mom, Dad, I love you so much and hope you guys had an amazing anniversary! Get ready for a yummy dinner when y’all come up in a few weeks

Speaking of fighting for a great marriage, Nate and I had the privilege to meet with 2 awesome couples yesterday to talk about their upcoming and potentially upcoming marriages. I have to say that marriage in an of itself is a truly amazing thing to me…yes, I enjoy WEDDINGS, but a MARRIAGE? That takes work, dedication, loyalty, love, fun, and the ability to die to self and put the other person before you. If anyone has any questions regarding marriage or anything, please feel free to email me anytime. I can’t promise I’ll know all the answers, and I’m not certified by an association or man-made entity, but I do promise to encourage you to do the right thing in all of your relationships I’m not sure why I threw that out there, but maybe there’s someone who needed it today!

Breakfast yesterday was awesome…a chocolate peanut butter GM in a jar (CPBGMIAJ?)

At church I got to serve with the kiddos, which is always fun, although it does wear me out I DID get to hold a 2-week-old baby though which was AWESOME…definitely didn’t help the baby fever go away! Lunch was a turkey-cheddar sandwich at Quizno’s with honey mustard, lettuce, tomato, and banana peppers. I ate the whole thing even though I only wanted and needed half, but can’t change that now…I can only change what I eat tomorrow for lunch!

I got to talk to my parents for about an hour or so, took the dogs to the dog park, and started cooking Father’s Day dinner for Nate (because, yes, we celebrate Mother’s & Father’s Day because of our dogs ) We started off with Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms:

14 medium baby portabella mushrooms
1/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup cheese (I used cheddar)
1 cup chopped spinach
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 350. Wipe mushrooms, cut off the hard stem at the bottom and discard. Then remove the rest of the stems, chop finely, and set aside. Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray and place mushroom caps upside down in the dish. In a saucepan heat 1/2 Tbsp olive oil and saute the chopped mushroom stems for about 3 minutes. Add the spinach, and cook til all leaves are wilted. Remove from heat and add Worchestershire sauce, cheese, and breadcrumbs. If mixture is too crumbly add about 1 Tbsp water. Stir until combined, then spoon into mushroom caps. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and serve!

We also had a 5-oz steak with gorgonzola cream sauce, mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus:

I wouldn’t be lying if I said I licked my plate clean…just sayin’ We had our friends Josh & Ashley over for dessert (pizookie anyone?!) and some Mexican Train dominoes…so fun! Like I said, I love talking relationships, and this couple is definitely in an amazing one! Just another reason why I’m passionate about marriage and passionate about love.

CONFESSION: I love Phil Collins.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojt4ILfscSw&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

I challenge you to find a Phil Collins song that isn’t amazing…actually, I take that back. I don’t want to send anyone on an impossible mission! In college my roommate Kristin made me a T-shirt that said, “I {heart} Phil Collins” and it just about made my year She had one that said, “I {heart} John Denver” too! We are old souls

Do you have a top-secret favorite artist? Who is it and why?! It cracks me up because, even though I don’t always mention it, I can pick out Phil Collins songs playing in the background ANYWHERE! Elevator, airport, women’s restaurant restroom…you name it And I adore it! “You’ll be in my heart…”!

{ 18 comments }

Back, Back, Back It Up

by Heather on June 20, 2010

Happy beautiful Sunday morning to you all! I’m tellin’ ya, the weekends get shorter and shorter, don’t they?

Let’s back it up to Friday since I haven’t told y’all about that yet We spent Thursday night at the Magnolia Hotel in Denver, thanks to Stacey! When we got up Friday morning we went downstairs to grab breakfast before hightailing it back up to Boulder. Obviously we started with some coffee:

I got a plate with some eggs, potatoes, two sausage patties (on accident, but I ended up eating about 1.5), and an apple:

We hurriedly dropped all of the photo gear off at home, picked up the dogs, and went straight to work. It was quite the morning! Lunch was simple, a turkey sandwich and some Boulder Canyon Black Pepper chips:

A little later I got hungry, so I snacked on a 100-calorie popcorn:

And Friday night? When we got home? We crashed. Well, I should say Nate crashed out on the couch…I tried to sleep, but couldn’t for some reason. I decided to watch wedding reality TV on TLC all night and do an upper body/ab workout However, when he woke up I was exhausted, so I went to bed immediately! Saturday morning the dogs woke me up, so I decided to make a can of cinnamon rolls we had in the fridge. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

All day Friday I had the biggest ITCH to do some yard work! Totally rare, so I decided to go with it We have this little patch of yard right in front of our kitchen window that just had a bunch of red mulch and random grass and weeds in it, and that was it…not cute:

I have wanted for so long to do something with that, but never took the time, or – when I had the time – never did anything about it. Yesterday that changed!

First, I raked up all the mulch.
Then I sprayed down the dirt a little to make it easier to shovel.
I dug up all of the grass and dirt, then broke it up with a hoe.
The stuff that still had grass in it I threw in another part of the yard, upside down, just to have more dirt in there.
After I broke up the dirt clods Nate and I went to Home Depot to get plants, new mulch, planting soil, and some stones.

My back was tired.

At Home Depot we got 3 rosemary plants, 3 Dallas red lantana plants (they’re good for areas that don’t get a ton of rain!), and some other flower that was pretty and required the same water and light as the other two…sorry, threw the signs away before I did the blog! We also got a different and BETTER color mulch to put down around it all:

It looks so great now! We feel like real grown-ups with our landscaped front yard

Afterwards I jumped in the shower and emerged a new woman While I helped Nate edit photos from the WillPower Summit I also baked off some roasted taco chickpeas:

1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and dried
1 packet taco seasoning
2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400. Coat the dried chickpeas in olive oil and seasoning. Spread flat on a baking sheet and roast for 40-50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Be careful towards the end that the chickpeas don’t burn!

I only had a few of those though…didn’t want to ruin my appetite! Robbie & Stef were coming over so we could all go to downtown Denver! We started off at a place EVERYONE has said we need to try, the Cheeky Monk:

Robbie & Stef

Me & Nate (sorry babe, I told you I’d put this picture up here!)

I had a Koningshoeven Dubbel (whatever that means), which was probably the closest thing to a porter they had on tap:

And we all split some frittes that were covered in garlic, parmesan, and shaved truffles! I’m drooling just thinking about these…

It was fun! We all liked our beers, obviously we all loved the frittes, and we laughed about silly stuff the whole time. Next we went to the 16th Street Mall area and walked around trying to find our next restaurant victim. We started to go into one place, but it was WAY nicer than we were dressed, but the valet told us about a really great place just up the street, Sullivan’s. He said they had an all-day-every-day happy hour on their patio, so we decided to go for it!

Y’all, this was one of the best places I’ve been to in a while. The patio was perfect, the service was outstanding, the food was incredible, and the view of Coor’s Stadium (baseball) was awesome! We all started off with martinis…I had the Knockout, which was very tropical

Mmmmmmmmmm

For the patio happy hour they have a selection of their great entrees at 1/2 price! We all split the bleu cheese chips:

Some heaven gnocchi with mushrooms, spinach, parmesan, and a light cream sauce:

And Beef Wellington with mashed potatoes:

We also ordered another round of the gnocchi, split a burger 4 ways, and a bbq beef quesadilla thing, but those photos were past being salvaged, so we’ll just all use our imaginations After that we walked down 16th Street Mall and then back to the car. I was exhausted! Yesterday was definitely a great Saturday, and I love that every time we come home we have some beautiful landscaping to look at!

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!!

Happy Father’s Day to all of the fathers out there, but I want to say a SUPER happy Father’s Day to my daddy…the best daddy in the world! My very own daddy (that’s what I used to call him ) taught me so many things in life…how to enjoy books, reading, writing, and always challenged my sister and I to be the best we could be.

He taught me the value of adventure, hard work, and giving it all I have in everything I do. He used to make my sister and write book reports for him every week in the summer, something I hated at the time, but am planning on doing with our kids someday!

He taught me how to make Old Dead Bugs & Worms (spaghetti with olives) and Mike’s Special Spaghetti (secret, sorry, can’t tell ya ). He showed my sister and I what it looks like to have a supportive husband and has always loved my mom well. He has always loved us unconditionally and, along with my Mommy, has been our biggest encourager and our biggest fan.