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July 4, 2011

crash boom bang + a BBQ

Filed under: Dinner,Party — Tags: , , , , — Kristen :) @ 10:57 am

Happy 4th of July!  It’s been a great weekend so far and I just love the extra day.  I hope you are all having a nice holiday if you get the time off.  Chris and I have been watching the Tour de France and it was great to see an American win today’s stage 🙂 Go Farrar!  I had my own little crash boom bang this weekend and I don’t mean fireworks! . . .   (more…)

January 31, 2011

on the mend + menu plan monday

Filed under: Restaurants — Tags: , , — Kristen :) @ 12:11 pm

Hey all!  Boy it seems like I’ve been feeling crummy for way too long and it has been so uncharacteristic of me.  Usually I’m over colds fairly quick and somewhat back to normal, but this bronchitis really threw me under the bus and then ran me over a few more times for good measure.  I was over the actual infection for awhile, but learned my immune system was going into over drive and not letting me stop coughing or breath for that matter.  I have never had asthma my whole life, but find myself wheezing with a tight chest, which causes me to cough.  I can’t tell you the sheer joy I felt yesterday morning when, after 12 days, I had only woken up once during the night to cough and without help from codeine!  Never underestimate being able to take a deep breath of fresh air.  I’m still having a difficult time breathing easy, but hopefully it is on the mend.

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August 29, 2010

Grilled Oroweat ‘Pizza’ Thins

Filed under: Dinner,Lighter Fare — Tags: , — Kristen :) @ 5:47 pm

These are the coolest pieces of bread to hit the market and they are very versatile to use for all sorts of quick recipes.  While the ingredients list is a little longer than I’d like, they are only 100 kcals, have 5 g of filling fiber, and taste great.  As a Foodbuzz tastemaker I was sent a few packs to review and share my favorite grilling recipe with them!  Soooo here goes  (more…)

July 25, 2010

Buitoni Pasta Party

Filed under: Party — Tags: , , , , , , — Kristen :) @ 1:21 pm

This weekend is already flying by!  It always goes by way too fast, especially when you’re trying to balance work and play 🙂  How was your weekend?  I had the wonderful opportunity to host a Buitoni Pasta Party for some of my friends Saturday evening, which included lots of good food, conversation and vino to wash it down.  Join me for a tasty re-cap!   (more…)

July 11, 2010

camera blues

Filed under: Breakfast,Dinner — Tags: , , , , , — Kristen :) @ 2:10 pm

I sent my lens off to Canon last week and hopefully they will be able to send me a new one ASAP.  I am sure missing it something fierce.  I have an ancient piece of crap to work with and I’m trying to make the best of it.  I hope you don’t mind 🙂  I have a great roasted pork loin with POM reduction recipe, along with a new twist on grilled pizza, and my first attempt at making coffee!   (more…)

June 18, 2010

athletic identity in children + simple dinners

Filed under: Dinner,Fitness/Health — Tags: , , — Kristen :) @ 6:33 am

I receive the Nutrition and Your Child Newsletter which is a research-based newsletter produced by the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) at Baylor College of Medicine.  I was really intrigued by this recent snippet which linked the creation of a positive athletic self-image in children to being active throughout life.  I attached part of the newsletter below and hope you enjoy it too.  It’s amazing how truly influential we can be in children’s lives and their future health.   (more…)

April 9, 2010

wholefoods giftcard raffle!!!

Filed under: Dinner — Tags: , — Kristen :) @ 9:03 am

Hi there!  Happy Friday!  I was able to make it to a great spin class this morning and my legs are getting back into the swing of things 🙂  I was still a little sore from a killer kick-my-butt box class Wednesday night.  That class always kicks my booty 🙂  I’ve also been trying to make sleep my number one priority and to get to bed by at least 10pm.  I usually get caught up on blog reading late into the night, hence my lack of reading/posting 🙁  I’ve been lacking in the sleep department and I can totally tell how it effects everything, so I need to change that for the better!

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Last night I tried nutritional yeast for the first time on baked kale chips and I think I really like it!  It has a nice, toasty ‘cheesy’ flavor along with a great amount of B vitamins, protein and fiber.  Why hadn’t I tried this before???  Averie has some killer nooch recipes (as she calls it), and they look quite tasty.   (more…)

March 24, 2010

pizza, pasta and puddin’

Filed under: Comfort foods,Dinner — Tags: , , , — Kristen :) @ 9:37 pm

Oh boy, where did we leave off last? . . . oh yeah that’s right birthday cake, pasta, cupcakes, nutella waffles and  . . . oh my, and this post is continuing the streak of decadent eats.  I’m not going to say they are much ‘healthier’ since I used 1% fat milk and reduced fat such and such, but I will say these recipes are pretty darn good!   (more…)

December 27, 2009

fitting it all in

Filed under: Blog,Holidays — Tags: , — Kristen :) @ 11:33 pm

It is so true that I will have the time to get back into gym mode when I get back.  So I just need to stop worrying about it like you guys said!  It was actually a most beautiful day and the sun was shining!  I should have went for a run or something, but alas there were other activities to fit in the day 🙂

IMG_6283After breakfast, we headed to my step dad’s race shop for a little tour.  Even though this shop isn’t as big as some of the shops he’s worked at, it still amazes me how much time and energy goes into the racing industry.  It’s really neat.

Here are a few shots from the inside . . .

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My step dad said I can’t really post all the pictures we took 🙂

Next, we headed to a shopping mall called Birkdale.  They have a bunch of different shops with condos above and it’s fun to walk around, especially when the weather is nice.

For lunch we stopped at a place called Brixx which has the best oven roasted pizza mmm the crust is thin and crispy.

IMG_6298I started out with the Brixx salad and Chris got the tortilla soup special.  The salad is topped with goat cheese, pine nuts and a light balsamic vinaigrette, but I passed on the croutons and bread.

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We shared the BBQ pizza (I had 2 slices) and it was really good even though they forgot to take off the onions!  ewww!

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We also decided to share a tall NF peppermint mocha from Starbucks.  I haven’t had one of these in a long time too!

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IMG_6308After walking around Birkdale for a bit, we decided we had to stop at the Soda Shop, a cute little eatery in Davidson that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It has some pretty yummy sammies and other deli type selections along with many milkshake flavors, but my favorite part is the sweet tater fries!  We had to fit them in 🙂

Isn’t this the cutest downtown?  I adore places like this!

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Checkerboard tile and all . . .

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And for the finale . . .

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Oh boy these are quite addicting!  I portioned out 10 slices and Chris ate the rest mmm  It’s a good thing we don’t live close to here.

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Not much going on for the rest of the night, probably picking at leftovers and hanging out 🙂  My aunt and little cousin decided to come into town tomorrow to visit for a few days and we’re going to a Charlotte Bobcats game!  Not sure about the bloggie meet up yet, but we’ll see!

December 22, 2009

even more holiday parties

Filed under: Blog,Holidays — Tags: , , , , — Kristen :) @ 9:26 pm

IMG_6023 Sorry I’ve been MIA lately!  I seemed to have killed yet another hard drive, so I have been without a computer for a little while.  While the hard drive that I was using was an old one from Chris’ laptop, he let me borrow yet another laptop from his work.  Hopefully I can keep this one functioning until mine comes back again.  I anticipate that it will be back today, just in time before I leave to see my mom!  I’m actually hoping that it will break one more time though, because if it does I’ll be able to get a new one yippee!  I haven’t had the greatest luck with my new laptop, while I had my last one for 7 years with no troubles hmmm

IMG_5988Anyway, I wanted to re-cap on some more holiday parties!  On Friday night we were going to have another couple come over for a fun pizza making party.  Unfortunately, our one friend got stuck at work till late and they decided to cancel 🙁  But, Chris and I still had a bunch of fun making pizza and drinking a little vino together!  It’s a super fun idea for a party though.  You simply make the dough and toppings the night before, take the dough out about 4 hours before the party to come to room temperature and then let your guests assemble to their liking.  This is also great if you have vegetarian guests because everything can be kept separate too.

Toppings included: chicken sausage, mushrooms, roasted squash, roasted bell peppers, olives and cheese!

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IMG_5987I have to say that the Willow Springs cab is THE best I’ve had, and it goes really well with a 5 year aged Gouda that I picked up from Whole Foods for a treat, & at $15.99/lb I don’t get it very often.  The cab is incredibly fruity and luscious with a nice balance of tannin and earth.  Pretty much any fruity red goes well with gouda though.  Chris’ parents got this cab for us from a wine club they belonged to, but I’m not sure if it can even be ordered anymore 🙁

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IMG_5973We also had some little munchie things for appetizers, including whole grain crackers, roasted red pepper hummus and bell pepper strips.  It was a lot of fun!  I had a glass & a 1/2 of the wine and I also downed a coconut water afterwards, I find it helps with hydration and any tummy issues 🙂

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The next morning I had prepped this breakfast casserole (adapted from CookingLight) and it was super easy to just plop in the oven.  This is great for company 🙂 I use 1/2 the bread it calls for and add in lots more veggies.

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IMG_6061The next party was the cookie exchange with the SwankyRD!  It was so nice to see Kristen again and chat with everyone there.  Oh my goodness, there were cookies and goodies everywhere!!  I ended up filling up two plates full of them since Kristen said to take them away hehe I actually didn’t eat too much at the party surprisingly, but did have a glass of red wine, an appetizer sandwich, some veggies and about a bite from 6 cookies.  They were all delicious!

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IMG_6000I decided to make the gluten-free chocolate chip cookies from Tam, which turned out to be phenomenal in my opinion.  I could hardly tell the difference between regular chocolate chip and to tell the truth I liked them better!  Check out the recipe here.  I also made chocolate baklava from Cooking Light and it was a huge hit too.  Even though this recipe is a bit time consuming with all the phyllo layers, I would highly recommend it.

Aren’t they just precious?  Yes, I talk to my food and love every aspect that goes into it.  It’s just so neat 🙂

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The baklava was to die for with every heavenly layer of phyllo, melted butter, nutella, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, cinnamon and honey.  Yum!

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IMG_2039After the party Kristen and I decided to check out Chef Guy Fieri’s Road Show at the House of Blues.  It was a lot of fun to see him in person!  I just wish he would have went on sooner because by 10 o’clock, I’m pooped.  We left at 11:30 and it still wasn’t quite over.  Afterwards, I wanted to grab something to eat and decided on a self-serve yogurt shop next door, I know not the best, but it was sure refreshing!  We decided to check out the lounge/club in the Mandalay Bay called the Foundation Room.  It was actually a lot of fun and the DJ was playing some great music.  Even though there wasn’t much of a dance floor, weIMG_2040 were sure getting our groove on 🙂  I love to dance, especially hip hop, and could dance all night practically, but knew I better head back before my body started to rebel from lack of sleep.  I didn’t get to bed until 2am!  I haven’t done that in ages.

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There sure was a nice view from the top!

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I didn’t even have any drinks, but the next day I tried to get up early and my head was throbbing, so I went back to sleep till 11am!  I haven’t done that in ages either, geezsh, I think I’m getting old 🙂  It was such a fun night though.

I can’t believe we are leaving to see my mom tomorrow!!  I’m so excited to just get away for a little while.  We don’t get back till the 2nd, but I still plan on blogging if my computer doesn’t break first.

I may be doing my first blogger meet-up too!  I’ve been talking with Laural and Diana who both live in the same area as my mom, so that should be fun.  I’m really looking forward to it.  I just adore all of you guys and all you do.

In other news . . . I’m hoping to make a final decision on a thesis topic, dun dun dun. . .   Here’s what I’m thinking so far, let me know what you think . . . Emily gave me the greatest idea to look at the use of probiotics in athletes and then I want to look at the rates of URTIs/sick days in athletes in a collegiate winter sport.  Or I was wanting to look at the benefits of corporate wellness or do something with corporate wellness because I have an interest with this as a future career.  I have to figure out how I would even do these studies along with research, research, research.  Thanks for all your ideas and encouragement!

I have also finally purchased a new blog template for WordPress!!!!  I’ve been wanting to do this and spruce up the blog for a long long time now.  I’m a bit overwhelmed with how to use it and transfer everything over, but hopefully I can figure it out over the little break.  I also contacted Zesty to see if he can help out, so stay tuned!  Maybe I’ll have to do some kind of new blog giveaway?  It will be a surprise!

Many thanks for all your support and wonderful comments.  I love everything about this blogging community, and while we may get a few negative comments here and there, all the positive ones make all the difference in the world to me.  I send you wonderful holiday wishes, yummy food and dishes, and happy new beginnings all year through 🙂

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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