I love waking up next to Brian, but there is something so sweet about waking up snuggled next to Kenley! She has had a few rough nights recently where she has ended up being bought into our bed in the middle of the night. If she wasn't so sweet and snuggly I probably wouldn't be quite so happy about it :) but I can't help myself! I love every minute of our early morning snuggle time!

Look who wanted to join the party....

I have no words...

I must preface these pictures by saying that Kenley chose these "outfits" 100%... and proclaimed that they were wearing "Merry Christmas Hats".

Lunch

Lunch is the hardest meal of the day for me to plan. Most days we are either out running errands during lunchtime or I am just getting home from an exercise class and am ravenous! I don't eat tuna very often any more but after seeing Sonja post about using lettuce instead of bread for tuna sandwiches I couldn't get that lunch idea out of my mind!

Veggified Tuna Sandwiches

Serves 1 super hungry {post spin class} Mommy

2 Small Packets Chunk Light Tuna packed in water

1 Celery Stalk, diced

1 Carrot, diced

1 Pickle, diced

A big squirt Barbecue Sauce (preferably HFCS-free)

Romaine lettuce leaves

Combine all ingredients and serve in romaine leaves! Enjoy with more pickles on the side! My cousin gave us awesome jars of homemade pickles for Christmas!

This lunch was super filling and so delicious! I can't wait to try out more sandwich ideas that use lettuce instead of bread!

Silly Me...

A few months ago I asked for your help in deciding which Erin Condren life planner I should choose. Silly me, I forgot to show you which one I picked!

I didn't pick either of the ones that I was considering and instead chose a custom colored one! I LOVE it! Navy blue and lime green are my favorite colors, so this design is very me!

I really love this planner and I love having one place to write everything down!

Freeze Yer Bunz 5k Race Recap!

I almost didn't run this race because the 2 days before race I had a nasty stomach bug and was still not feeling 100% on race morning. {For the record the bug was not a baby, that fact was also confirmed the morning of the race, The odds were REALLY stacked against me for this one!} I still needed to get my miles in for my 32 mile goal though and since I am starting to get sick of the treadmill, I knew that an outdoor run was exactly what I needed!

The following picture is stolen from Facebook :)... I don't typically run like such a goober, I was raising my arms above my head for the picture and my timing wasn't too great:)
Here I am coming to the finish line!!

Check out my time!! 29:18!! My time for the Turkey Trot was 33:14 so that means I shaved about 4 minutes off of my time! Plus, this course had some crazy hills! I am so proud of how far I have come!
I placed 3rd for the females!! Wahooo! I got a bronze medal!

I am so glad that I ran this race! I just signed up for my first half marathon in August and this race really has me pumped up to start training for it!

Anyone want to run the half marathon with me? Its the Lululemon SeaWheeze Half in Vancouver, B.C.! August 10-11th!

Dehydrated Almonds

I have been on a big dehydrator kick lately! My dehydrator usually has either pineapple, apples, or almonds in it at all times!

Raw nuts contain enzyme inhibitors that make them hard to digest. Soaking almonds overnight in salt water helps to release those enzyme inhibitors and therefore makes them healthier because the nutrients are more easily absorbed. Honestly though, even if soaked and dehydrated nuts weren't healthier, I would still be a convert because the flavor and texture of soaked and dehydrated almonds is far superior to raw or roasted almonds!

Give them a try!

- Cover about 4 cups of raw* almonds and 1 tablespoon of sea salt with warm filtered water, cover and soak overnight.

- In the morning drain and rinse the almonds

- Place in dehydrator and dehydrate until crispy. This usually takes my dehydrator about 18-24 hours. You want to make sure that the almonds are fully dehydrated because if there is any moisture left on the inside they will go bad fairly quickly.

- Taste test until they are fully crispy!

- Enjoy!

*The almonds must be raw for this to work!

Vegetarian Lasagna Soup

Soup for dinner is so comforting when the weather outside is cold and dark! Another reason that I love soup is because it is so easy to add tons of vegetables and no one will notice! The key is having a food processor to dice the veggies up into tiny pieces. I let my food processor do all the work for this Lasagna Soup!

I saw this Lasagna Soup recipe on A Running Tale and I was inspired to make it Vegetarian!

This is my version of Lasagna Soup, Pioneer Woman Style with lots of pictures!

Start out with 2 Field Roast Sausages and 1 onion

Roughly chop and place in food processor
Process until finely ground
Place a large stockpot over medium heat. Add a small drizzle of olive oil and add the onion/field roast mixture to the pot. Allow mixture to cook until onions are soft and translucent.
Now add 3 carrots, 2 celery stalks, and 3 cloves of garlic to the food processor and process until finely minced
Add vegetable mixture to the pot and continue to cook for about 10 minutes.
Add 2 heaping tablespoons of tomato paste and continue to cook over medium heat.
Add 1 can of Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes to the food processor

Process until few lumps remain
Add to the pot along with 1.5 teaspoons oregano and 2 bay leaves
Stir and add 6 cups of No-Chicken Broth. I really like broth because unlike most vegetable broths, this No-Chicken Broth does not contain tomato so the taste is much milder and more like chicken broth. I intend to make a big batch of my own soon but until then this works great!
Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and allow to cook for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes turn the heat back up to medium and add 1 box of quinoa pasta to the soup and cook per directions of pasta. You want to do this step right before serving so that the noodles do not turn to mush!

(I forgot to get pictures of these steps)

While pasta is cooking combine 1 cup of parmesan cheese, a 15oz container of ricotta cheese, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Place ricotta mixture at the bottom of your bowls and ladle the soup around it. As with any soup, you should definitely serve some crusty bread to go with it!

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Lasagna Soup

Ingredients

2 Italian flavor Field Roast sausages

1 Onion

3 Carrots

2 Celery stalks

3 Garlic cloves

2 Heaping Tbsp Tomato Paste

1 Can Fire Roasted Tomatoes (28oz)

2 Bay Leaves

1.5. Tsp Oregano

6 Cups No-Chicken Broth

1 Box of Quinoa Pasta (8oz)

1 Cup Parmesan Cheese

1 Container Ricotta Cheese (15oz)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Snowday!

Our friends the Peters (Drew, April, Gracen, and Asher) and the Mills (Kyle, Joy, Isaiah, and Baby Boy) came over on Wednesday to play in the snow!

Most of the kiddos went in after a few minutes but Kenley outlasted some of the adults! She loved playing out in the snow and would probably stay out there in the cold all day long if we let her!


Kenley and Daddy built a snowman!
Kenley ended up going down for her nap really late, around 4:30, and never woke up until 8:30 the next morning! She was wiped! I went in a few times to check on her and she was just snoring away!

Such a fun day with friends!

Beauty and the Beast 3D

When we were little kids, the first movie that both Brian and I saw in the theater was Beauty and the Beast. So when I heard that Beauty and the Beast was in theaters again for a limited time, I knew that it would be so fun to take Kenley to see it!

She was really excited to go to a movie with just Mommy and Daddy. Even though the girls are young we are really learning how important it is to set aside special alone time with each girl.

The movie is in 3D so we had to wear glasses the whole movie. Kenley was not crazy about this at first because it was confusing to her. Eventually she gave up trying to take them off and just left them on. I think she would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't a 3D movie just because it isn't something she is used to.
We had so much fun at the movie! I loved watching her watch the movie and I loved watching Brian watch Kenley watch the movie! We looked over at each other so many times and just smiled because it was so sweet to watch her!

At the beginning of the movie there was a Tangled short that was also really cute! We watch Tangled at least once a week so we all really liked the short!

iPhone Catch-up

I am a bit behind on blogging about just about everything!

Time for a January iPhone recap? I think so!

We have done lots of snuggling in bed watching "toons"!

We had some fun with our good friends the Peters at Lowell Park!
Claire and Asher
Kenley and Gracen

James and Natester came over to hang out!

Surprisingly, they both did really well eating their tomato soup all by themselves! I love that the girls have cousins who are so close in age to them!

Kenley yells "RUCKER" at the top of her lungs all day long. Rucker plays along and runs around the kitchen with her! I think he is just glad that there is someone in the house who drops crumbs all the time!

Obviously, I still have a LONG way to go to reach my 100/32 goal! I hope to run 6?! miles today.

Claire really likes beans! One day I was making a burrito and she would freak out if I tried to stop feeding her the refried black beans straight from the can and cold. Weird! She loved it though!
We have gotten lots of snow! We rarely get snow around here so it has been a special treat! Especially since school for Brian was cancelled 4 of the 5 days this week! Kenley loves looking out the window at all the snow!




Our friends the Peters and the Mills came over for sledding and lunch! Gracen and Kenley really are best friends! It is so sweet!
This month has really been the month where Claire has started to like Brian! That sounds weird, but up until this month she was a Mommy-only girl and pretty much didn't like anyone else. I am so thankful that she will finally reach out for Brian and show him some love! Maybe this progress will spread to her liking other people too! :)
So far, I am a big fan of 2012! :)