That just happened.

The Year I Got My Life Back

Lots of great things have happened this year, but the most notable thing is how much more active our lifestyle is! Now that I've finished my 10th race event of the year, I thought I'd do a little retrospective. This time last year, I never would have DREAMED I was capable of doing all of this, including losing 55 pounds. But walking has done wonders for me, and I've learned just how much I CAN do! The races have been fun, great for accountability, and a good gauge to see how far I've come in my training, but what's really great is how all this has affected my day-to-day life. I can hop on my bike and ride down to the park with the kids... I can play on the playground equipment... I can run around... I can dance and dance (I didn't say I can dance well)... I can go to San Francisco and walk the crazy hills and still be OK at the end of the day... I can take my son to the zoo and see every single animal... My life is different and better, and I'm excited to see where I'll be in another year! Shout outs to Brenda, Ashley, Meredith, Erin & Madeleine, Ketti, Cassi, Mike, Elias, Victoria, Mom & Dad, Aunt Dee, Doni, Elizabeth & Rosanna for all the love and support throughout the year. What's written below is more for me, but I'm happy to share with anyone who is interested in reading it.

Race for the Cure 5K: April 9, 2011

My first race event ever, and my daughter’s first as well. We were early-on in our training and our weekly walks were only about 2-4 miles. I woke up late and almost didn’t bother going. But we showed up just in time, except the roads had already been blocked off. We parked at least a mile away from the race start and started power walking toward the starting line. The super-fast runners started coming our direction and we couldn’t even see the start line yet! Then, the big herd of runners started to show up and we passed Brenda, walking hard and fast against the racers. We finally made it to the beginning, thought I didn’t actually make it to the actual start line with 14,000 participants, but began about 100 feet away from it. We found our friends Erin & Madeleine, who were so nice to wait for us, and then started walking (already exhausted just from getting to the start – lol). Fun walk overall; I got a blister or two and was just happy to finish my first 5K, hand-in-hand with Erin. Huge accomplishment for me.

 


Heels & Hills 10K: May 1, 2011

My first 10K ever! Rainy & cold, but so proud to finish! The day started off horribly – it was the first day of my short-lived quitting smoking regimen, drove to Las Colinas in heavy rain, got my breakfast all over my shirt while driving, so I had to change into the race shirt in a stairwell at the event, which was a size or two too small. Luckily I had a poncho on over that! lol Meredith and I walked 95% of this (jogged a little here and there to keep up), so we were finishing the 10K while those around us were finishing the half-marathon. Turns out we were handed a medal that I later learned was for the half-marathon finishers – oops! Oh well, it’s a nice memento. I got some nasty blisters and I could hardly even walk around the house for a week. This prompted the discovery of Body Glide on my feet & I learned about GOOD socks.

 

Buffalo Boogie 5K: May 7, 2011

A lovely, small, nature-y race event I did with my family. It was Mike & Elias’ first 5K – we all did great! It was a pretty uneven path and I was still a bit sore from the 10K the week before, but overall we had a great experience out at the Fort Worth Nature Center & Wildlife Refuge. This event had tons of families and doggies and I would love to do this event every year.

 

Firemen’s 5K: May 28, 2011

This 5K was the best race time I had all year (16 minute miles walk/jogging, but mostly walking). The scenery/neighborhoods were fantastic and the event overall was small enough that parking wasn’t a problem, but big enough to be fun. This was probably the most well-planned & executed small race event I have ever been to. Great time had by all, for a great cause! I would do this event every year too.

 

American Heroes 10K: May 30, 2011

Oh, this race... This race still irks me because I didn’t finish it. I got right up to mile 5 of the 10K and after multiple attempts to scoop me up from the back of the pack, I finally caved in and let a police officer take me in on a golf cart. I was in a lot of pain and had been crying as I walked for about a mile or so, and once I was dropped off at the finish, I was so ashamed, I didn’t even go pick up my race T-shirt (they hadn’t been available yet when I did packet pick-up earlier that week). It was a nice route around the ballpark though, and a very well-planned race, complete with a touching military flyover (being on Memorial Day and all), 21-gun salute, and a Blackhawk helicopter on-site. The only photo I have of me at this event, since I did it by myself, is this one. I’m on the right-ish in a turquoise shirt with my signature hot pink headband. I was scared to keep going and scared to quit. At the first 10K, I pushed through the foot pain and got hurt, so I was torn between pushing myself and listening to my body. Push through the pain at the risk of an injury? I wasn’t sure. I hate giving up and I am super-competitive, so I was pretty hard on myself after this race. This race prompted me to make an appointment with an awesome foot doctor who made me some custom orthotics, which helped a ton.

 

Firefly 5K: June 4, 2011

This was our second 5K event as a family. A nighttime run with glow-in-the-dark everything. I have a LOT of gripes about the way this race was put together, but I won’t bash the organizers – they received enough feedback already. From what I understand, they experienced a HUGE amount of growth this year and were just ill-prepared. I have faith that next year will be great and they learned a lot from this year. It’s a REALLY cute and fun concept and supports a great cause (Children’s Medical Center), so I would consider doing it again.

 

Trinity Bright 5K: October 1, 2011

A fun, leisurely walk on a beautiful course through Trinity Park in Fort Worth (unless of course you want to run) ;). Family-friendly, Halloween costume-friendly and the perfect time of year to be outside in North Texas. The registration fee was inexpensive and the event was just gorgeous – everyone should be doing this race! And it supports an amazing cause — The Forever Trinity Dream Foundation and The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

 

Komen 3-day for the Cure 60-mile walk: November 4-6, 2011

Prepping for this event is what started it all – the pièce de résistance that all of this training was for. ‘Nuff said. I could write a novel about this event alone – there is just too much to say to do it concisely. If you were there, you know.

   


Arlington Turkey Trot 5K: November 24, 2011

Why stop after the 3-Day? We don’t want all that hard work to go to waste, so I decided to walk this 5K with my family on Thanksgiving Day, as a commitment to health (on quite possibly the unhealthiest day of the year). Beautiful course around the ballpark amidst the gorgeous trees changing colors in the fall weather – love it! Very well-executed event which was fun, short and sweet, with no traffic problems, and it got us all home in time to start cooking and before the traffic piled up for the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game. I hope we make this a family tradition.

 

Don Zetnick Winter Run 10K: December 3, 2011

This was a fun little 10K walk around UTA and neighborhoods west in its 34^th year in Arlington! The race benefited YMCA of Arlington and there was also a 1k and a 2-mile – very family-friendly. Meredith and I walked 90% or more of it and were the last to finish – woohoo! But with the little bit of jogging we did do, we were able to maintain a 17.75 mile pace. I think everyone was just ready to get out of the rain. I wanted to finish out the year with an even 10 races, and I did!!

My wall of race bib "trophies" from the year!
(there were no bibs for the Buffalo Boogie 5K, so I only have nine) 

Peanut Butter Energy Bars

These are amazing, so I had to share the recipe! You HAVE to make these — they are super-easy, super-fast, and there's no baking involved. These are such great fuel before a morning workout & my hubby and kiddo loved them too!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dry roasted salted peanuts
• 1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds or other chopped nuts (I used almonds)
• 2 cups raisins or other chopped dried fruit (dried cranberries or blueberries would be amazing too; or for a bad version, mini chocolate chips) 
• 2 cups rolled or instant oats
• 2 cups toasted rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies (I used Rice Chex) 
• 1/4 toasted wheat germ (optional; I didn't use this)
• 1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey or light corn syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Coat a 9x13" baking pan with cooking spray (I used a sqaure pyrex - 9x9" I believe)

2. Combine peanuts, sunflower seeds (or other nuts), raisins (or other dried fruit), oats, rice cereal, and wheat germ (if using) in a large bowl.

3. Combine peanut butter, brown sugar and honey (or corn syrup) in a large microwavable bowl; microwave on high until bubbling, about 1-2 minutes. Add vanilla and stir until blended. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until coated.

4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Press down firmly (It helps to use a rubber spatula or coat your fingers with cooking spray.) Let stand for about 1 hour to harden. Cut into bars.

Like I said, I used the smaller, square pyrex instead of a 9x13" and it made 8 bars. Nutritionally, mine were about 233 calories each for the combo I used (peanuts/almonds/raisins/oats/rice chex/creamy pb/brown sugar/honey/vanilla). Also, after 1 hour of cooling, the bars still fell apart, so I put the pyrex in the fridge after it was cool and they hardened up better. They tasted so great out of the fridge that we just left them in there. But just FYI, the original recipe states that they will be good at room temperature for up to 1 week or you can wrap individually in wax paper and freeze for up to 1 month (just thaw them out at room temperature before eating, of course).

(Adapted from Eating Well magazine July/August 2008 issue)

Recipe: Peach & Blueberry Cobbler

Yes, I still actually have this blog... and this recipe is TOTALLY worth sharing. I took a cell phone pic of the dish from the magazine page, but ours looked almost exactly the same. Didn't get a chance to take a photo though, as we clobbered this cobbler super-fast! :) The recipe says 10 servings... to that I say, "Psh!" We got 7 out of it. The intro states: "Unlike more classic biscuit-topped cobblers, the peaches and blueberries are nestled into a tender batter that swells around the fruit as it bakes. Other fruits may be substituted, but peach has always been my favorite. It's especially beautiful when baked in and served right from a cast-iron skillet."

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (or whole-wheat flour for a healthier version) 
• 1.5 tsp. baking powder
• 0.5 tsp. salt
• 1 cup reduced-fat milk (I used our Silk almond milk, original, light & it was great - I imagine soy would be fine too)
• 0.5 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 ripe but firm peaches (about 1 pound), pitted and sliced into eighths, or 3.5 cups frozen (I was only able to get 2 fresh peaches in there and I had to slice them into sixteenths, so I guess we just had large peaches?)
• 2 cups (1 pint) fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place butter and oil in a 12" cast-iron skillet or a 9x13" baking pan. Heat in the oven until melted and fragrant, 5-7 min.
3. Meanwhile, combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add milk, sugar and vanilla; stir to combine.
4. Add the melted butter mixture to the batter and stir to combine, then pour the batter into the hot pan. Spoon peaches and blueberries evenly over batter. (Or in my case, I hand-placed the peaches and just dumped the blueberries in)...
5. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the top of the cobbler is browned and the batter around the fruit is completely set, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove to a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes. Serve warm. (And perhaps with a teensy scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla on top.) :) YUM!!

This recipe is from the July/August 2008 issue of Eating Well magazine. 

Funk-in Funk

You know what? I miss blogging!! It gives me a chance to sort out my thoughts as I write them down. I don't know how terribly interesting this will be to anyone else, but that's OK - I blog for me, not the masses (OK, and by masses I mean the other three people who are reading this).

I need to take a break from work, or the way I am working right now. I think I'm in a funk. Allow me to explain (and by explain I mean gripe)...

I think I need to schedule a week or two that I don't have to open my work e-mail, hold any appointments, or work on any client projects. I still need to work during this time, but what I need to do is prioritize, catch up, breathe deeply and figure out how I want to set up year #2 of running this business full-time.

I think I spent the better part of the last year just running, flailing; doing everything everyone wanted me to do on their schedule, not mine; constantly afraid the bottom would drop out and I'd have to go crawling back to work for someone else and drive a crappy commute every day.

For the second year, I think I will go ahead and decide that I am here to stay. I will finally get to those things which have been lingering at the bottom of my to-do list for months and months — the things that will make my business better and make me better at it. I will refine my tactics and assess what has been working for me and what hasn't.

Look, I'll start practicing now:

• I'm sorry, I cannot meet at 4:30. (My son gets home at 4:10 and I like to be just about finished by that time so I don't have to get snippy with the kids since I will inevitably get interrupted.)

• I'm sorry, I cannot meet today. (I am running a family, a business and my own life — a little more notice is not only appreciated, it is necessary.)

• I'm sorry, I cannot participate in industry events as much as I'd like to. I love meeting new people and the friends I've made along the way, but I'd rather make a coffee or lunch date with you. I have a husband and two kids at home and evenings are either kids' practice times for whatever team or club they're doing at the moment or our down-time together. When we don't have our evening time together, our lives get thrown off big time. Besides, ten years from now it won't matter how many happy hours I attended, but my kids will still remember that we sat down at the table for dinner, held hands and prayed, shared a meal and the details of our days. Plus, I don't drink very often. I have a responsibility to my family and everyone else on the road to be "on" when I'm driving and my son hates alcohol and I try my best to be respectful of that — he has good reason.

And you know, I despise "getting ready." I don't want to put on makeup every day. I've done the dress-up every single day and the does-my-shoe-collection-count-as-an-IRA thing and I'm so totally over it. I have nothing to show for all the thousands of dollars I've spent on clothes and shoes over the years and the immense amount of time I've poured into getting myself ready only to be completely antsy and anxious because I'm wearing something uncomfortable and then wash off all that makeup a couple hours later. PS: I'm also not a big fan of traffic. The reason I'm always late to pretty much everything is because I dread getting ready until the last possible second before I finally [choose one: get in the shower; change clothes; put on my makeup; fix my hair]. It doesn't make any sense, but there it is. It's my thing. And sometimes I am early because I start feeling really grown-up and responsible and I make myself stick to my schedule. But I can't do that all the time — I childishly want to do what I want to do, when I want to do it — and most of the time I talk myself into believing I've earned the right to do so.

I've said it many times before, but I LOVE my house. I take pride in our home, what we grow in the garden, and the unconventional nature of our silly family. I love it all. I can already tell I'm going to be a hermit when I'm old. I don't feel the need to get out of the house much at all.

OK I'm done whining now, and I have to go anyway, as I have a 4:30 appointment. (Shocker.) And yes, my kid is home now and yes, I've already been interrupted twice in the last 5 minutes. C'est la vie!

Personal Goal

Let me preface this post by saying I know we all have a charitable cause that is near and dear to us — I have donated to friends walking for everything from heart disease to diabetes, autism, leukemia and suicide prevention, and I've even hosted benefits at my home to support a local program for young girls who age out of foster care with nowhere to go.

But this November, for the first time, I will be the participant. I'm walking in the Komen 3-Day for the Cure — that's 60 miles over the course of three days! I've agreed to raise at least $2,300 in donations, so I need your help. Keep in mind how far I'm walking... and how hard I'll have to train from now until November. Just follow the link below to visit my personal fundraising webpage and make a donation or call 800-996-3DAY to donate over the phone.

My personal fundraising page: http://bit.ly/fJXdWx

I am walking side-by-side with one of my best friends, Brenda, whose mother passed away just before Thanksgiving 2010. Brenda's mom beat breast cancer in 2007, however, the life-saving chemo and radiation treatments she endured caused several new ailments over the last three years of her life. What ultimately ended her battle were complications arising after a bone marrow transplant.

And if supporting an end to breast cancer isn't enough, I ask that you support my health. I am on-track to lose a total of 104 pounds off what was my peak weight. I am already down by 32 pounds and estimate I will reach my total goal weight loss on November 3... the day before this 3-day, 60-mile walk. What a milestone!! I am so committed to change my life and my health by losing this weight for good that I haven't had a Dr. Pepper since Dec. 31, 2010 (shocking, isn't it?!) and I plan to quit smoking by May! :)

I hope that you'll share this incredible adventure with me, by supporting me in my fundraising efforts, in my training and in spirit.

My personal fundraising page: http://bit.ly/fJXdWx

If you want to keep up with our team & our training, you are more than welcome to "like" our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ThisOnesForTheGirls

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

P.S. Net proceeds from the 3-Day for the Cure fund global breast cancer research and local community programs supporting education, screening and treatment. Virtually every major advance in the fight against breast cancer in the last 28 years has been impacted by a Komen for the Cure grant.

Slammed

This downward spiral used to happen about once a month, but this is the first time it's happened so far in 2011. I get completely slammed with work but I try to maintain my normal work-life balance: quit at quitting time, not work on weekends, etc. . . . except during that evening and weekend family time, I am plagued with stress about how much I need to do or should be doing.

Time for bed comes and goes and everyone is asleep, yet I am still awake, trying to de-stress and zone out in front of the TV, because I haven't watched TV for days or even weeks. I think about sneaking to my computer to work, but when I sit down, my eyes begin to dart around and I realize I am too tired to do anything productive, let alone creative. Then I get through one more episode of Friends before I finally pack it in and go to sleep at 2 a.m. But my alarm still goes off at 6:45 to take my son to school, and I awaken immediately stressed about my growing to-do list. Once he's off to school, I start working right away, with just a double mug of coffee - no breakfast, no workout, not even changing out of my pajamas and slippers. This is a recipe for disaster.

This bad routine continues for days until I finally whittle down my to-do list enough to chill out or make myself sick. I occasionally have to actually stop working to get ready and look presentable for previously-booked meetings, so that's a blessing and a curse. My work to-do list is never really done, because even if I send out all of my proofs, by the time I'm done, I'm already getting changes back on some and by the time I finish those, I have changes back on the others, and when those are done, some jobs are ready to send to the printers and order envelopes for, and then when I get those, the others are ready to go, then I'll have a barrage of shipping to do or meetups to schedule to drop off invitations. I currently have close to 20 orders in different stages of this process, not to mention e-mail inquiries or phone calls to return to prospective brides and clients, as well as invitation consultation meetings. This is the job, this is my business, and I LOVE it. What I do not love is when I get overzealous, thinking I can do it all AND have a family, eat healthily at home, work out, and the glue that holds it all together: get plenty of sleep!

My priorities have been out of whack this week and I can see now in hindsight that in the past couple of weeks have been leading up to this stress-fest.

My number one priorities are my family, health and spirituality. Of course my business is a priority, but not a more important one than my family, health and faith. If those three pillars in my life are not straight, I'm not doing my best at my business or anything else. 

February's meal goal of using what we have basically threw me into a tailspin. I accept now that the best we've ever been about eating healthfully and at home was when we had that solid meal plan during January.  I have gotten creative in the kitchen a few times this month, but we've eaten out more than I'd like because it got too late and I didn't know what to make or have anything thawed, etc. Not good. I know now how good it can be and that in order to maintain that goal, I need to be accountable to a schedule and a plan... so I will start a new plan tomorrow for the next month.

When we're not eating well, we don't have the right kind of energy to be active and our sleep schedule gets all crazy too. Hubs and I have been staying up too late for a couple weeks now and we're both exhausted. So when we're not eating right, have no energy, we're not being active enough (and it feels like a beating when we work out) and we aren't getting enough sleep, we aren't performing at our best in our work or our family time either. So I'm putting a stop to this. I don't feel good right now. I feel guilty and tired and icky. Is it any surprise that during this time, I also stopped reading and blogging, two things I love doing in my down time? All of the things that enrich my life essentially stopped because I let my priorities get out of line. What have I been doing? I have had some really fun social times with friends in the last couple weeks, which is fantastic — it's my alone time/family time when I've been messing up. I'm going to get back to my routine this week and back to my healthy, happy family.

I feel like I should also mention the chaos in the world right now. I feel like global issues are escalating at an exponential pace and it is wigging me out, not to mention that the gas prices here are getting out of control again and people are starting to freak a little bit. I am hoping and praying we don't have another economic meltdown in this country, but it is unsettling to say the least. I can feel the tension rising in friends, family and even strangers. I think as a nation, we are a positive people, but that can sometimes lead to living in denial. Did we learn from our economic missteps or did we just go back to driving Suburbans and charging up variable-rate credit cards? Just sayin... make sure your ducks are in a row and your current lifestyle is sustainable. Be prepared. I'm going to take a breather this weekend and get my life back on-track, learn from my mistakes and make sure my priorities are in line. Sweet dreams!

For Your Sweetie

Heart-shaped box of chocolates, half of which are filled with something gross: $5-20

Flowers that will wilt by the weekend: $10-100

Valentine's card for your sweetheart: $3-5

Getting the perfect Valentine's gift for your honey WHILE saving money: Priceless! 

Art by Ellie and Sugar Bee Sweets have teamed up to offer a Valentine's package for just $6, available at The Shoppes at Brownstone Village in Arlington through Monday, Feb. 14. They're affordable enough to get one for everyone in your family and weather is going to be phenomenal this weekend, so get out there and pick up a few!

What you get: five amazing red velvet cake balls (or one of Sugar Bee's other fantastic flavors), each handcrafted and enrobed in white chocolate then drizzled with more chocolate... and a Valentine's card designed by Art by Ellie! Your schnookems will love the adorable owl or heart garden design almost as much as they'll love your handwritten love note on the reverse side (don't worry, they come with their own little red envelopes so the sappiness stays between you two). 

Also available: Our wildly popular full-size, foldover owl notecards with envelopes, in limited supply, for $2 each — the perfect card for any Valentine's gift.

Support local businesses this Valentine's Day and get a sweet deal! You can also keep up with our sweet companies day in and day out by "liking" Sugar Bee Sweets and Art by Ellie on facebook. Let us know if you need a larger custom package for V-day or any other occasion.

Art by Ellie on facebook

Sugar Bee Sweets on facebook

The Shoppes at Brownstone Village (Sugar Bee Sweets is inside "Brownstone Too") is located at 2408 West Abram Street, Arlington, TX 76013 (SE corner of Abrams & Bowen, across from Kroger).
Mon-Sat 10-6 & Sun 1-5.

The Big 3-0

I am.

Whoa.

I'm in my thirties.

Finally.

Anything I should know? C'mon, you know all that unsolicited advice you give? I'm soliciting...

PS: Thank GOD my 20s are over! They were fun, but sheesh... I don't want to do that again!

PSS: I'm asleep and this is an auto-post. Leave me your words of wisdom as a fb comment or comment on the blog below, cause when I wake up, I'll be THIRTY! And I know you don't have anything better to do because we're probably iced in again today. :)

Bad Lab

For the first few puppy years, living with our lab, Sam, was a lot like living in "Marley & Me." But now that he's five-and-a-half, he behaves well for months and then he'll just have an "off" week when he gets into trouble every day. Maybe he had cabin fever from the ice storm last week, but he has been quite mischievous over the last few days.

First, let's take a look at how lovable and docile he is most of the time:

        

What a sweet cuddlebug, right?

  

And I couldn't resist sharing this old photo of Sam helping V play Super Mario Bros. on the old Nintendo. (This was a very bad haircut she got just before moving here - lol.)

Well, we rarely get photos of the bad things he does, because they happen so suddenly and without warning. Like the time he jumped up on the counter and ate half of a loaf of fresh-baked bread. Or the time he jumped on the counter and ate TWO POUNDS of fajita meat. Or when, right in front of us, walked into the garden and began eating cucumbers straight off the plant. And we love it when we come in to find our clean and folded bras, socks and undies strewn from the laundry basket all around the house. Not to mention the countless pairs of shoes the kids sacrificed to the lab-gods before they learned never to leave them in the living room overnight. Sometimes Sam even jumps up onto the living room couch or recliner right in front of our faces (so you know he does it when we're gone) and just curls up in a ball and thinks he's going to nap there.

Last week on Monday night, I came home from taking V to volleyball practice and half of the items from the recycling bin were torn up around the house, along with a large cardboard box torn to pieces. We picked up the pieces, told him that was a "leave it!" and went on about our evening. 

Throughout the chilly week, Sam enjoyed watching the fireplace and sleeping close by. But by Friday afternoon, Sam was ready to get out of the house! He had a blast playing in the snow (LOVES snow) and I guess he was having so much fun outside he forgot to take care of business. With no whimper, bark or whine to let us know, he took matters into his own hands... looked straight at Hubs in the eye, lifted his leg, and oh yes, he did. For about 30 seconds he did. Even while Hubs exclaimed "Sam! NOOOOOOOO!" There he stood, leg up, just going. It was unstoppable. We all stared in horror until Sam was finished and Hubs promptly threw him out in the backyard while we cleaned the carpet. Hubs then marched Sam back inside and straight into his kennel. Later in the day, after they were ready to apologize to each other, Sam was let back out into the general population... and he seemed so content to be back in Daddy's good graces. Look at that ridiculous pig-nose!

But then Saturday morning, Hubs made bacon in a cast iron skillet with breakfast. I know this is gross, but bear with me, he left the bacon grease in the skillet all day so it would be easier to clean (everyone does this, right?). Saturday night, Hubs returns to the kitchen to find...

Well we all know what happened – Sam lapped up half a pan of bacon grease! Eeeeeew! Bad dog!

Let's hope "Sam the Man" has a better week this week. :)

A Month of New Recipes: The Final Tally

Last week's winners (recipes to be posted this week):

• Black Bean & Vegetable Tacos
• Chicken-Broccoli Divan
• Mini Apple Crumble Pies (pictured below)

In my opinion, the month's best dinner & dessert recipes are as follows (click each name for its recipe - yay for having all the good ones in one place)!

BEST Dinners:

• Black Bean & Vegetable Tacos
• Chicken Stuffed with Golden Onions & Fontina
• Almond-Crusted Chicken with Spinach
• Broiled Tilapia with Parmesan & Herbs
• Shrimp Creole
• Lasagna
• Chicken Enchiladas Verdes
• Beef-Broccoli Stir Fry
• Spinach & Ricotta-Stuffed Shells
• Jerk Chicken with Mango Salsa

BEST Desserts:

• Deceptively Delicious Brownies
• Nanna's Pears
• Mini Cappuccino Cheesecakes
• Mini Apple Crumble Pies

So now what?! Until the end of the first week of March, we're going to be getting creative in the kitchen! We're going to use what we have & dig all those random ingredients out of the nooks and crannies of the pantry and the freezer. This is gonna be fun (and it's gonna be a LOT of venison - lol)!

We have been trying to practice consuming less and not buying anything new until we've used up what we have (waste not, want not!), so this month we'll try and buy/consume as little as possible and see how much freezer space we can free-up.