Eating my way to a flat belly

First of all, if I can eat those cupcakes and work towards a flat belly, I'm sold.  Second, this book is so cute with it's bright happy yellow and super fun hot pink I just couldn't wait to get going!   Thank you, Mom!

I know what you are wondering - how the heck is this even possible to eat your way towards a flat belly?  The secret is MUFAs!  (Monounsaturated fats)  The nutritionists at Prevention magazine took habits from people in the Mediterranean (who according to this book and their research, have some of the healthiest stats on the planet) and combined those with loads and loads of research to discover that MUFAs actually target lisceral fat!  That is the dangerous fat that lurks in the core of your body and surronds your organs.  By carefully constructing balanced meals, the Flat Belly Diet has you eating 4 times a day, consuming 1600 calories, and the magic trick is eating 1 MUFA in each 400 cal meal.

There are tons of testimonials inside, and I know of one first hand - my mom.  She suffers from thyroid disease which means she has been struggling with poor metabolism since she was treated - she used to have hyper which means her metabolism was through the roof but, it's a disease and her body was producing too much of the hormone.  They zapped her thyroid and now she has to rely on medication to have any hint of a metabolism.  It's extremely tough and frustrating and I've seen her struggle with it for years.  Two weeks ago, she started this plan and since has lost 13 pounds!  AND she says she is losing it in her belly, the hardest place for her to lose weight!  I'm so happy for her! 

So I say, if she is successful, I can be too!

First step:  4-day Jumpstart

Here is a link to a cheat sheet I created:  Flat Belly Diet - 4-day Jumpstart Plan

Check it out and meet me back here....

... not to bad, huh! And, this is the hard part!  In all honesty, this is pretty close what I eat anyways.  There are a few changes but otherwise, nothing too drastic so far!

So last night I did my shopping for two (Simon is along for the ride) and prepped most of the food for the plan:

Here are my 16 portions of fruit - 1 for breakfast with cereal or oatmeal and 1 for the smoothie.  This was a pain!  3 packages of strawberries, 3 packages of blackberries, and 1 package of blueberries.  AND I think I shorted a few of the baggies so I probably could have gotten 1 more package of blueberries.  Rinsed all and cut up the strawberries and then put 2 handfuls (1c) in a little plastic baggie.  (Thank goodness for my Pampered Chef spinner!)

The veggie tray with plan approved veg for steaming (green beans, carrots, squash) - I think we'll have to replenish this before too soon - does this look like 16 cups to you?  Hardly but we'll see... Sunflower is right across the street so that is a quick and easy fix!

Yummy yummy chicken!  Roasted with Caribbean Jerk marinde.  We only get 3oz chicken per meal.  Wondering if Simon will survive on that little meat!  The alternate is a 4oz fish fillet - I buy the Gortons Tilapia that are delish and they're super easy to pull out of the freezer to bake right when you want your meal.

This is the "Sassy Water" that you drink at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I renamed it "Jumpstart H2O" to make it a little more guy friendly ;)  Water, lemon & cucumber thinly sliced, grated ginger, and fresh mint leaves.  Let me tell you this is sooooo yummy!  They said a lot of people still drink this after the plan is over but I immediately doubted I would cause it is a lot of work every day but I may have to make it here or there.  Yum yum!

And here are the star players:  the MUFAs! Sunflower seeds at breakfast, Flaxseed Oil in the smoothie, and Olive Oil with the veggies at dinner.

Looking forward to getting through the first part and trying out all of their delicious looking recipes.  First order of business Saturday - bake lemon cupcakes!

A very successful Sunday Roast

To date a man, you need to know how to cook. To date an English man,
you need to know how to cook a roast and how to perfect Yorkshire
Puddings (basically a popover but a tad different).
Today, I succeded! It is a major triumph - I think a right of passage
in acceptance by your English man. Haha There is a lot of pressure to
do it right and damn it, I nailed it!!! Wahoo!!
Simon told me that I did such a wonderful job that he now wants this
every Sunday. I did have a lot of fun puttin it all together and
figuring things out with him... We will see! :)
Ladies, I think this meal goes down in history for a tell tale, for
sure way to win a man's heart through his stomach!!!!
Here is my step by step to eat about 5:15...
1:15 preheat oven to 325. Prep roast in pan ( I used a 3.2 lb chuck
roast). Salt and pepper each side and add about a half cup of water
into the bottom of the pan. Cover with foil
1:30ish put in the roast on the center rack
Do all of your prep work - clean and cut veggies & place in the
steamer so they're ready to go, get all f your ingredients sorted for
the yorkshires, cut up potatoes and place on a baking sheet covered in
foil insides down, place sprigs of Rosemary and thyme throughout the
pan and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to
cook.
2:30 prepare yorkshire batter (see below)
3 turn roast over, recover and put in about another hour
4 pull out roast ( if ready) and set oven to 400
4:20 put in potatoes on the top rack and Yorkshire pan on the center
4:30 take out Yorkshire pan and add mixture. (See below for super
important details!)
Make gravy and let simmer (we just use a brown gravy packet and Simon
added grilled onions to it. Yum)
4:45 Turn on the steamer and steam veggies for 10-15 minutes
5 take out potatoes, quickly!!!!!!!!!! (and carefully!!!!!!!)
5:10 yorkshires should be done
Set oven to 330, when ready, put in bread & butter pudding for about
an hr (until it isn't watery anymore)
By 5:15 you'll have a heavenly meal on your plate. Enjoy!!
Here are the recipes for Yorkshire puddings and Bread and Butter
pudding:

Yorkshire pudding (courtesy of Martha Stewart, revised by me)
Mix 2 cups flour, 1 tsp coarse salt and a little bit of cracked
pepper. Create a well in the center.
Measure out about 3 cups milk. (2% is good. Original recipe called for
whole)
Pour about 1/4 of the milk and 4 eggs, beaten into the well and whisk
together. Fold in the flour.
Add about half of the remaining milk and beat with an electric mixer
on low until liquid. Set for about 1 1/2 hrs at room temp. Set
remaining milk aside, room temp

Put about a tsp of lard in the bottom of each cup of a 12 cup muffin
tin.
Once you pull the roast out, turn up the heat to 400 an put in the
potatoes and the Yorkshire pan.
Now, slowly add more milk and mix with the electric mixer on low. You
may not need all the milk, just get it to the consistency of cream. I
used a total of 2 1/2 cups or so.
About 10 minutes in, take out the pan and fill each tin about 3/4 of
the way. Put in the oven on the center rack, centered pefectly, shut
the door, and do NOT open it for anything. Your potatoes will be just
fine unturned.
They should begin to rise after about 10 min or less and continue
until about 20 or 30 in. They are done when they are golden brown. If
they start to fall when you open the door, they aren't done so close
the door quickly!!! Should take about 40 minutes.
Bread and butter Pudding, courtesy of Simon's dad
1 pint (20 oz) milk, hot
2 large eggs
1/2 c sugar
Whisk together
Butter 3-5 slices of stale bread (if ends, slice the end off. Some
take all the crust off) and quarter.
Layer half the bread in casserole dish and pour half the mixture over
it. Layer the remains of the bread and then the rest of the mix.
Sprinkle with raw sugar and all spice. If desired, currants and or
raisins.
Bake at 150C (332f) for about an hour or so, until it isn't watery at
all

Bon Voyage!

The time has finally come - we set off for our super-wonderful-fabulous 3 week vacation this morning!

After 3 years of talking about this trip and about 8 months of planning, it's a surreal moment to know it's finally here...  Is this really happening to me? 

We have a long layover in Minneaopolis - 8 hours! But I'm not bothered, it's a perfect opportunity to see some family!  My brother is going to pick us up, you know, the jokester, and we will first surprise Payton at her school - she has no idea we are coming!  We'll also get to see Harrison's baseball game!  Which will end in perfect timing to get back to the airport for our red eye.

It's going to be a long couple of days, but we'll survive.  Shit, we have enough time to recoup! haha

Stay tuned for some photo blogs...

I can't fucking wait!

Simon + Morgan turned 2

Sorry I've been a little MIA and a little preoccupied but finally I'm going to share with you the super fun day we had to celebrate our 2 year anniversary.

In case you missed it, here is the story of how we met.

Our anniversary was on a Wednesday, a day that we have opposite schedules, so we made plans to celebrate Saturday.  We decided on a picnic, hanging out at the pool, and then grilling at home.  Since we're trying to save money we opted for staying in and it ended up being more than perfect!

But rather than ramble on, I'll tell you in photos.  Enjoy!

The Flowers

Fig spread, apples, brie, prosciutto, and honey Bruschetta

A party in your mouth

The classic

fresh tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and basil (from the garden!)

Tasty!

Simon's favorite pose

He insisted I did it, too but I think I look incredibly silly...

Springtime calls for bare feet and in AZ, it also means poolside

We went for pedis before the picnic - here is mine =)

It's almost time for dinner... Simon preps the steaks for the grill

....and I prep the corn & asparagus

...and open another bottle of wine

Steaks are ready to grill and I keep Simon company on the patio

per usual, the steaks were divine and the wine and conversation kept flowing.   I love our nights in.

Love you, babe!  Thanks for an amazing day together!

Photos from the wedding

My Handsome Date

The Setting: Leo-Carrillo Ranch

Peacocks were everywhere!

Sisters! (aka my aunt and mom)

Lovebirds

The Street Fair

Poolside with a view

Two of my favorite things in the world, 

Mom and the beach

Law & Order roll - Harney's Sushi, Oceanside

A must do when in town!

Goodbye SD :(

My unglamorous life as a Disney Princess

This monster, we'll call her Maleficent after the wicked fairy godmother in Sleeping Beauty (Seems, fitting, right?), has prevented me from getting out of bed to go running all week and it has to stop!

I brought my tennies and sports bras (yes, I wear 2) to California, planning to go for a run along the beach Monday morning before we checked out but I was just plain lazy.  Convinced myself that I was on vacation and running along the beach really wasn't as cool as I was making it seem.  What?  Complete nonsense!!!  I was so f'ing excited to do that and now I lost my chance.  FAIL!

She gets me all the time - I lay in bed, most of the time in anticipation of my alarm going off, and it's as if I am Aurora and Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are in a full debate with Maleficent on  when I should get out of bed.

Every possible scenario runs through my mind of how I can reschedule, shorten the time I need, minimize to what is absolutely necessary, and somehow believe that this 5 minutes to an hour of debate is going to make me feel more rested.  What a waste of effort!

It isn't until the very last minute I come to my senses and realize that I have completely underestimated the time I need and want to get ready for the day.

So... today is Thursday and I haven't run all week.  Monday it was because of being on a mini-vacation, Tuesday was because I wanted to be in at 7 so that would call for waking up way earlier (no way) plus Tuesday isn't a normal day, yesterday I can't even remember the rationale but I'm sure it was very clever, and today it was a sore throat and lazy body.  

Thank goodness I was finishing a full week before we leave for our trip so I don't have to kill myself going without rest days but I worry that this week off will have screwed with my stamina!

It's ironic how it seems like Simon is the only thing that can get me out of bed when I'm in this state.  Maybe there really is something to say about who your favorite Disney Princess was as a young girl...

But it's all on me.  I need to get my ass in gear and stop living in fairy tale dream land.  Who the fuck invented the snooze concept, anyways.  It's all their fault.

Simon + Morgan turn 2 today

It was a typical night in Rocky Point - groups of Arizonian 20 somethings hit the town for some good old debauchery in party town Mexico.

I went with a group of friends and knew of another group that was going to be there the same weekend.  Of course, cell service is shit so I didn't really expect that I'd get to meet up with them.

But to my amazement while we were at Manny's I ran into them!  I knew that it was going to be an amazing night out!  We merged groups and walked over to Pink Cadillac. 

Per usual, I was glued to the dance floor and noticed this really cute guy wearing a pink shirt and pink sunglasses.  Gave him the come hither glance and we started dancing.

But I have an issue with dancing right up against someone for too long; I need room to dance!  So I stepped away slightly and he took it as me being uninterested.  He eventually wandered away.  Damn it.

Come to find out, he is there with the group that I knew and ran into!  We all ended up hanging out into the night and I let him and his friend crash on the patio at our resort.  Next morning we thought, hey, it's Mexico, let's go get some beer and head down to the pool!  We were having so much fun but it was time for me to hit the road back home (boo!).  Simon offered to bring me home with him later that day so I talked with my friends that I drove down with and all was good.  Woo hoo!  One more day in Mexico!

Simon, his friend, and I wandered around town exploring and stopped at a few of his favorite places.  The last stop was JJ's Cantina in Cholla Bay.  After relaxing and chatting on the patio overlooking the bay, it was time to head home.  We headed to the car but his friend didn't come right away - as we were waiting in the car - Simon got really close and told me that he really liked me and wanted to see me again.  Then he kissed me.  The best, most amazing, sweetest first kiss in the world.  (I don't care how good anyone else's was - ours is THE best).

Butterflies went crazy in my heart and stomach and my knees and toes went all tingly.  Reminiscing of this makes me feel so giddy!

It was one of the best afternoons, I felt so safe and happy around him - I knew this guy was really something to me.

Looks like I was right ;)

Thought for the day

My random epiphany for the day: 
Surround yourself with people that have good attitudes and habits.  We naturally mimic the people we are with the most.  I quit negative, rude, annoying, impatient, short fused, illogical, arrogant people.


In other, unrelated news....


Great party at The Golden Barrel!  It was a great success and a wonderful time!


Simon's birthday was yesterday so when he got home from work we decided to go out for a couple drinks.  I was still going from working the party and how could I say no to the birthday boy!  50 cent Coronas, shots of Patron Silver, and a late night dinner at Philadelphia Sandwich Company.  Cuddled on the couch watching I don't even know what and fell asleep in his arms (your queue for "awes" or "blechs").  Prepare to read some sappiness... I love waking up with him!  It's so hard to get out of bed!  Soft smile and giddy heart, I'm a happy girl!


It's Friday!  Working both jobs again today, then it's home to work on a playlist for tomorrow night.  Can't wait till the party!


And in more unrelated news (but possibly related to my random epiphany)...


This guy that couriers product to us from Tucson is annoying and a bit creepy BUT he always smiles and leaves saying "God bless you."  Normally I cringe when he comes to my desk for me to sign for a package because ever time he says "I love that beautiful smile."  This is a wonderful compliment and I love to hear it, but every time you see me??  But today I welcomed his played out compliment and repeatedly asked question "Where did you get that smile?"  I always say my mom and dad, forgetting the answer he wants which is one of two - "It comes from either the Lord above or it comes from within."  Gonna remember that for next time!