Adding variety to life

Howdy y'all! =) The other day I was thinking about how I get bored of some things easily, like food. I'm not sure if other people get this way too, but just in case, I decided to blog about it.

I get bored of eating certain types of food. Sandwiches are a good example. I get bored of eating the same thing all the time so then I don't want to eat it and then I let the food go to waste and instead I spend money on fast food and eat something unhealthy. Not a win, win situation. So I've come up with ways to add variety or to spice up the mundane while staying pretty healthy. These work for me anyway.

Sandwiches

Bread- You can use whole wheat bread, bagels, french bread, rolls (hamburger, sub or kaiser) or croissants (well...not that healthy). My favorite are the bagels, personally, which in of themselves, come in a variety of flavors (i.e. onion, plain, raisin, or egg).

Cheese- There's such a wide variety of cheese out there. My favorite are colby jack, cheddar (mild or sharp), and provolone but of course there is also american, swiss, pepper jack or colby. I recommend sticking to one slice on a sandwich.

Lettuce - Romaine is my favorite and iceberg is my least favorite. You can also use spinach. I've heard cucumbers are good, too, but I've never tried them.

Well, sadly, that is all I have for you today.  Look for my next blog on tips on how I try to stay healthy while going out to eat.  Ciao!

Hot Chocolate and catching up

Salut!  I hope everyone's holidays were wonderful.  Today, it is a pretty chilly day so when I came home from work the first thing I wanted was hot chocolate.  I recently have been experimenting with putting extra yummy ingredients in my hot chocolate to make it taste better because in my opinion, it's usually pretty bland.  Some of the ingredients may sound strange but try them and you may surprise yourself.  

• sea salt
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• honey or agave nectar
• caramel
• instant coffee, I use decaf
• cayenne pepper
• marshmallows

 Yum!

 In other news, in November, my Hubby and I went to a local state park.  I wish we went earlier so that we could have hiked more but I still managed to get some pretty nice pictures. My favorite picture was this one of the water.  I love the way the water looks like a silk blanket almost. 

 I like this one b/c it shows the brilliant blue the water was that day.

 I like this one b/c it shows how the tree is twisting.  It reminded us of our honeymoon b/c at the Grand Canyon the Juniper trees twist like this.

 I like this one b/c I love seeing the obvious depth perception with the sidewalk and I like how it is wavy.

My last picture is of a deer.  I took many pictures of a whole family of deer.  I think there were seven.  I spent at least 20 minutes taking pictures of them until some loud kids came and scared them away.  I find it kind of irritating when I'm in a quiet place like a state park and I hear loud people.  I like to take pictures and it is very difficult to do so when there are loud people around.  I also don't find the park as peaceful either as a result.  Part of the reason I like going to parks is just to relax and calm myself.

Lastly, I hope everyone has a wonderful new year.  I just have a couple of goals because I try not to set myself up for failure.  I feel most people do because their goals are too vague and they have too many of them.  My first goal is to gain more confidence in myself.  That will be measurable by how I do in future interviews.  Another goal is to knit more from my stash and more from my knitting/crochet books.  I guess that will be measured by whether I buy more yarn or books.  I have quite a bit of both and I reallllly don't want anymore.  I also hate seeing all of the yarn I have.  Well, thank you for reading.  Perhaps I'll make it a point to blog more.  We'll see.  Adios!

Healthy Snacks

Happy 1st snow!  At least here where I live.  Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate as well.  
I've been thinking about health lately and how I can increase my intake of healthy food.  It's tricky if you were not grown up with it but I've learned some things over the past few years.  For one, I've gathered a list of good healthy snacks to eat and I would like to share that with all of you.   

• String cheese - A good source of calcium.

• Jello with or without fruit - It has some protein and vitamins if you put fruit in.  I've been told you can't put fresh pineapple in it though b/c it will degrade the gelatin so use canned pineapple.

• Granola bars - A good source of oats, nuts and fruit.  I actually have a recipe for delicious homemade ones that I may put up some time.

• Fruit - Cut fruit or whole fruit.  I try to have bananas and apples around b/c they are easy to eat but make sure you change it up by adding some other type of fruit b/c they all have different benefits.

• Fruit Smoothies - Another good source of vitamins and if you put yogurt in the drink then it is also a good source of calcium.

• Cereal bars - Another good source of fruit and grains.

• Dry cereal - Depending on the cereal, this can be healthy.  You can always take a healthy cereal like Cheerios and mix it with dried fruit and nuts to add more taste.

• Popcorn - Fairly healthy w/o the extra butter.  I use Jolly Time popcorn.  Instead of butter add a spice like one of the ones recommended on their site. Jolly Time healthy recipes

• Yogurt - Healthy if you do not get the ones that are supposed to take like cream filled pies.  The regular ones are a good source of calcium.  If you get Greek yogurt, it has tons of protein.  You can always get Greek yogurt or the vanilla ones and add your own fresh fruit, dried fruit, honey or granola into the cup.

• Bagels - I can eat these plain but I know I'm weird.  You can spread jelly that doesn't have a lot of added sugar or you can make homemade jam.  I've put fresh blackberries in a small pot on the stove, mixed it with a bit of honey or agave nectar, cooked them, and smashed up the berries a bit.  You can even some peanut butter on them but don't overdo it. 

• "Chex" mix - You can take some nuts, dried fruit, and pretzels and make your own mix of handful yumminess.

 Well, that is my list.   I hope this list keeps you from reaching for that candy bar or can of soda.  Remember, these are snacks so they are not going to fill you up but they will temporarily get rid of that hungry feeling which we need to avoid.  Also, when I buy food like fresh fruit, I immediately prepare it when I get home so that I'm encouraged to eat it later.  With a snack like the "Chex" mix, you can always prepare a bunch and put them in little baggies.  Snacks, I feel, are meant to be eaten quickly b/c often you are running out the door or in your car eating so make it easier on yourself by preparing them ahead of time.

Yummy breakfast

This morning I made one of A Charmed Wife's breakfast ideas.  I made toast with peanut butter and slices of banana on top; although, I think she suggests almond butter.  That was so yummy.  I will definitely make that in the future.

Yumminess

On Friday I went up to my brother's.  We made homemade tomato sauce which wasn't too difficult.  The most time consuming part was getting the tomatoes prepared but I learned how to peal tomatoes.  Apparently you put them in boiling water for about 45 seconds and then plunge them in ice water.  It works pretty well.  

We also had a snack with Camembert cheese that had a bbq/peach preserve/raspberry sauce on top with Thyme sprinkled on top of that.  Then we took the cheese and grilled it until the center was soft.  We cut into it and it oozed out.  Yummy.

Today I have my knitting group to see.  Every Sunday we get together and chat about whatever crazy stuff is on our minds.  I believe today we have a friend coming in from out of town.  She works on a cruise ship as a stage manager.  Apparently I am doing something wrong b/c I would love to have a job that required me to travel.  Anyway, I've been knitting for awhile now so if you have any questions feel free to ask me.