Focus...

Since this blog is in it's infancy, I feel that it's ok to make some changes. To focus, if you will. I'm pretty sure no one will care because I don't have any followers yet. So I'm following the advice of my husband and going with what I know...Health and fitness.

The blog will be dedicated to healthy living with a realistic point of view. There will be yummy, healthy recipes with ingredients you can find at a normal grocery store and workout tips that don't require you to spend hours at the gym.

I am a busy Mom who believes in the importance of teaching my kids how to lead a healthy lifestyle, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one out there. So, this is my quest to fit health into my busy schedule, any ideas are always welcome, so feel free to chime in!

In Health,
Katie

Pasta Fagioli Soup

I love Italian food and I love soup so an Italian soup just drives me crazy! I got the original recipe from my Aunt but I've made a few changes to make it more figure-friendly. It is still so yummy! It has finally gotten cold enough for me to make it.

Here is the recipe:

1 lb lean ground beef, browned

2 14 oz cans Great northern beans
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 10 oz cans diced tomatoes with green chiles (I use Rotel)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried basil
3 to 5 dashes of liquid hot pepper sauce (depends on how hot you like it!)
3 cups of low-sodium beef broth

2 cups water
1 cup dry small pasta (optional)

Combine all ingredients except for the pasta in a slow cooker. cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Cook pasta separately and add to soup just before eating.

If you don't have a slow cooker, you can simmer it on low on the stove top for 2 hours and it comes out great. Also, omitting the pasta is a great way to cut calories out without sacrificing taste.

Here's the finished product without the pasta:

Mmmmmm!

Are the terrible twos starting early?

Dear goodness...My darling girl threw a fit in Ross today! She has never done anything like that before, I have no idea what came over her. Here's what happened:

I need a few things to wear for our upcoming Thanksgiving trip to visit my husbands family. I feel guilty spending money on clothes for myself, so I decided to go to Ross and check out what they had. I've found some pretty good stuff there in the past. So, I loaded up the kiddos and the double stroller and was on my way.

When we first got there, the kids were pretty good. Hanging out in the stroller, drinking their juice. My daughter even made friends with a little boy who was there with his Mom. (She's quite the flirt) They were so good while I was browsing through the sweater dresses that I decided to stroll on back to the toy section to see if I could find them a little something to play with and buy myself a little more time. I really needed a couple of cute tops.

The first thing I saw was a Megablocks dump truck. Perfect! It was only $7.00 and My little man is totally into megablocks. Well, apparently my darling girl has decided that she is now into megablock dump trucks as well, because she started screaming while I was trying to find her a toy. I was hoping that her little tantrum was only because Brother had something and she didn't. Not so much. I found her this really cute toy hair dryer and she threw it on the floor and screamed louder. At this point people were starting to stare. She then ripped the truck out of Brother's hands and was happy. But now my little man was upset, so he started crying. We were then a complete spectacle!

Thank God there was another dump truck because I needed two! Then they each had one. Problem solved...or so I thought . Every time Brother even looked in her direction, my darling girl screamed. Not a little scream, oh no, blood curdling screams. I practically ran for the checkout where I had to pry the dump trucks out of my maniac children's hands so the poor girl could scan them, paid, and ran out the door.

You want to know what my rotten/darling girl did when I put her in the car. She gave me a big kiss and a smile and then sang all the way home. How in the world will I ever figure her out?

On the upside, I did manage to get two pretty cute tops, and two identical megablocks dump trucks.

Excuses, excuses...

When I was pregnant with the twins I gained 53 pounds. Since they were born almost 16 months ago I have lost 48 of those added pounds. Great, right? WRONG! I am about ready to chop off a leg to get rid of the last 5! It is becoming increasingly difficult to get motivated to work out, and I cannot control myself around my kids' chicken nuggets!

Lately I have been the queen of excuses, but no more! Losing weight is not easy. I've done it before (I lost 50 lbs after college), and it took lots of work. So, I am going to hold myself accountable to the blog and keep a workout log on here for all to see. If that's not accountability, then I don't know what is.

So here's to fitting into the skinny jeans! I'm off to do some yoga!

Friends

Anytime you move to a new place, you have to reestablish your social life. I should know, I've lived in several places, and have made some amazing friends. I'm finding, however that as I move through different stages in life, making friends is becoming increasingly more difficult.

When I was in college I met people in class. It was easy to find friends when we were all in the same place in life. I made my best friends in graduate school though.

I decided that I needed a big change in my life after being out of college for a year and being in the workforce so I applied for graduate school. The one I eventually chose was the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Now, I grew up in Southern California and had never lived anywhere else, this was going to be a HUGE change. I did not know one person in Minnesota but I decided that this was going to be a great adventure. As it turns out, I met my very best friend in the whole world in Minnesota, Brigitt. I miss her so much I'm tearing up writing this.


I got married right after grad school, and moved to Louisiana. Wow, very different than any place I had ever been. It was easier for me not having my friends around then, because my husband is my best friend! We had so much fun spending time together that year. I also had a job where I interacted with people everyday, so I got to be social with others also. Even though my husband and I have moved a couple of times since then, it has been pretty much the same. I got to see Brigitt every once in a while, had some social acquaintances at work, and we have had each other.

Enter the kiddos. I thought marriage was a life changer. Well nothing prepared me for having children! At first I was too tired to worry about not having friends, but now it has snuck up on me. You see, I don't even really get my hubby to myself anymore. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a Mom, but I need to be Katie too. And Katie is a social person.

So, how do you make friends when you have twins under 2? Can't go to Mommy and Me classes because you need one parent for each kid and they don't offer classes in the evenings or weekends. It is really difficult to join a playgroup when you don't know anyone who is already there, especially when you are bringing 2 little monkeys with you.

Here is what the hubby and I have come up with:

1. We are making friends with people he works with. It has been fun going on some "triple dates" you know, My hubby and I, the couple from work, and our twins. They are too young to object to being each other's date for now. :)

2. We accepted an invitation to church. Who knows, we may meet some life-long friends there!

3. We called up friends we had BT (Before Twins) and really have made an effort to get together with them.

4. This is the most important... After we put the kids to bed in the evening, we turn off the TV and eat dinner together, Just the hubbs and I. We have adult conversation, play games, and remember why we love each other so much.

In all of this, I'm remembering what it is like to be me again. It feels good.

Mmmmm...Marinara Sauce

So I channeled my inner domestic goddess the other day and made home-made marinara sauce. My house smelled so good!! It is a bit of work, but well worth it. I use Giada De Laurentiis' recipe and it is so yummy! I double it and store the rest in the freezer for future fabulous meals.

I learned a really cool trick about storing sauces and soups in the freezer not too long ago. Measure the sauce into 2 cup portions into freezer zip-top bags and lay them down flat to freeze. Once they are solid, you can stand them upright and they don't take up as much space in the freezer. They are easy to defrost this way also, just throw them into warm water for a few minutes. These type of things appeal to my type-A organizer personality.

By the time It got done simmering the kiddos had gotten up from their nap, so all I did with it for dinner was put it over some penne and add some Parmesan cheese. I think it was a hit though.

I think I'm going to make some healthy baked ziti with the marinara sauce this week. Here is what I put in it:

1 lb ground turkey

1lb penne pasta, cooked and drained)

1 10oz box frozen spinach ( thawed and squeezed dry)

2 cups mozzarella

1/2 cup Parmesan

4 cups marinara sauce

1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce (optional)

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Mix all of the ingredients together, reserving 1 cup of the mozzarella and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-fat cooking spray and pour in pasta mixture.

Level the top and sprinkle with the reserved cheeses.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until cheese is lightly browned.

This recipe is a family favorite in my house. It's a great way to sneak in all of those healthy vegetables!

Enjoy!

Finding Myself

I'm a thirty-something woman who used to have a career and is now a stay-at-home mommy to the most fabulous twins EVER! I'm sure I'm not the only one out there trying to be superwoman, so I decided to start this blog to share my quest to fit it all in.  

While I think the decision to stay home was the right one, it has not come without its challenges. I started my career as an Athletic Trainer, and after graduate school, I made the jump from sports medicine to fitness. The best part about it all was the people I was fortunate enough to help. I learned as much from my athletes and clients as they did from me, probably more so.

I loved being immersed in a healthy lifestyle. My husband and I always made it a priority to get our workouts in and eat healthy meals. It was a breeze while I managed a gym! Then I got pregnant, and wouldn't you know it, we were going to have twins! So, my visions of being one of those "fit pregnant women" were blown to bits. While I had a very good twin pregnancy, the fact that I was having multiples made it a high risk. No more running, no more weight lifting, I was limited to pre-natal yoga and walking. The walking even went away when I was 6 months along because I was getting so huge that my hips were rebelling.  Let me give you a little mental picture here, I'm 5'3" and I have no waist so I looked like an oompa loompa who had swallowed a stability ball. At 32 weeks I was put on bed rest. My kiddos got tired of waiting and were born on July 22, 2009, 6 weeks early; AKA the happiest/scariest day of my life. They spent 14 days in the NICU and then came home with a clean bill of health. Our new reality had begun.

The first few months flew by in a haze of sleep deprivation and dirty diapers. I barely had time to shower, let alone worry about how I felt. But now that the kids are in a good routine and I have a little more time to my self (a precious little), I feel a little lost. So I'm going to find a new me...