Recipe Reblog: Healthy Bowls

Chili and soup go with winter like peas and carrots. Am I right?

I tried two new recipes last weekend that I want to pass along. Bonus points for being totally healthy too!

Terrific Turkey Chili: I have a few chili recipes but I was looking for one that really pumped up the veggie quotient and this fit the bill. It even has zucchini in it! I followed the recipe exactly except I made my own taco seasoning mix. If you're still buying taco packets, do yourself a favor and google a taco seasoning recipe. Those packets are packed with sodium. No bueno. Even with the green chile peppers this wasn't too spicy. I am a wuss when it comes to spice but it had a nice heat to it. And it makes enough to feed a crowd. Give it a try!

Cream of Broccoli soup: This recipe comes from Gina's Skinny Recipes which is a site I have used a lot! She has great healthy options and gives you all the calorie counts, etc. I was looking for a lightened up cream of broccoli recipe and knew I could count on Gina. This cooks up quick and easily and also adds a few more veggies in as well. A minor variation from the recipe... I used fat free half and half instead of milk. I used low sodium broth though and I needed to add a bit of salt. She also says to add pepper to taste. I added a half teaspoon and that may have been slightly heavy handed but it was still good. And lastly, I don't have an immersion blender so I blending in batches in my regular blender which worked out just fine. This was delicious! It was also pretty thick.

There you have it.

Fill up your bowls and have a great week!

Beer Me - Namaste & Barrel Aged

It is with a heavy heart that I must acknowledge a sad fate. The Christmas beer season has ended. Winter seasonals are the worst. Absolutely dreadful as there's never anything particularly notable about them. But, at a tasting this past weekend, I did try a few that I wanted to pass along. They're not really seasonal offerings but nevertheless.

Source

This is Namaste by Dogfish Head. It's offered year round but this is the first time I tried it.

From the site: A witbier bursting with good karma. Made with dried organic orange slices, fresh-cut lemongrass and a bit of coriander, this Belgian-style white beer is a great thirst quencher.

The coriander was strong in this one which means my mother-in-law would despise it. But, John and I found it quite refreshing and a nice departure from all the dark, heavy brews of late. If you like a citrusy wheat beer, you'll like this one.

I don't have a picture of this one and neither does the site but Bean Gene is from Revolution Brewing Co. as part of their Deepwood series that does special things with their Eugene Porter. This was on tap at a local brewery/restaurant we went to on New Year's Eve and even though it was $10 for a glass, we had to try it.

From the site: "After months socked away in bourbon barrels, we steeped it with Dark Matter coffee beans prior to bottling. Smooth and well-balanced, with hints of vanilla and an in-your-face coffee flavor, enjoy it at breakfast, lunch or dinner."

Oh my stars. It's pretty much a given that if something is barrel-aged, no matter the type of barrel, that I'll love it. This was no different. The Woodford Reserve barrels sweetened the porter but offered other flavors that were deep. If you are a coffee lover, you will die over this one.

Last but not least, a beer with a name that is slightly rude.

Source

Backwoods Bastard is from Founders Brewing (one of my favorite breweries). Also bourboned so I'll save you the suspense. I liked this one a lot too.

From the site: "Expect lovely, warm smells of single malt scotch, oaky bourbon barrels, smoke, sweet caramel and roasted malts, a bit of earthy spice, and a scintilla of dark fruit. It’s a kick-back sipper made to excite the palate."

Let's be clear here. I don't like straight bourbon one bit. But when you add it to beer (or put it in chocolate) it becomes something of which I am a big fan. This had a great richness to it that was very warming. I didn't see a 6 pack for a price but it is a limited release so if you think you might enjoy it, snap it up while you can! Founders can be a bit pricey but it's worth it.

OK guys -- almost the weekend! We can do this.

Books Read in 2013

I didn't really have any reading goals last year and I think that showed in some of the choices and my total numbers. I used my Kindle a lot (obviously) and was sort of at the mercy of what was available through there. Eventually, I made it back to the library because I was craving the tactile aspect of reading. For the last half of the year, I read both electronically and physically. While I love the ease of a Kindle, I'll never be able to give up books all together.

 1) The Twelve, Justin Cronin - * * * *
 2) Becoming Sister Wives, The Brown Family - * * 1/2
 3) Sweet Tooth, Ian McEwan - * *
 4) I Am The Messenger, Markus Zusak - * * * 1/2
 5) Paris, My Sweet, Amy Thomas - * * * 1/2
 6) Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand - * * * *
 7) MWF seeking BFF, Rachel Bertsche - * * * 1/2
 8) It's All Relative, Wade Rouse - * * 1/2
 9) Thunder Dog, Michael Hingson - * * *
10) The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-time, Mark Haddon - * *
11) Miss Peregine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs - * * *1/2
12) Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn - * * * 1/2
13) A Town Like Paris, Bryce Corbett - * * 1/2
14) The Descendants, Kaui Hart Hemmings - * * * *
15) Big Brother, Lionel Shriver - * *
16) Dad is Fat, Jim Gaffigan - * * * *
17) The Fault in Our Stars, John Green - * * * 1/2
18) Divergent, Veronica Roth - * * * *
19) Inferno, Dan Brown - * * 1/2
20) Insurgent, Veronica Roth - * * * *
21) The Aviator's Wife, Melanie Benjamin - * * * 1/2
22) Sisterland, Curtis Sittenfeld, * *
23) Let's Explore Diabetes With Owl, David Sedaris - * * * 1/2
24) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot - * * * *
25) Murder in Belleville, Cara Black - * * 1/2
26) Dark Places, Gillian Flynn - * * *
27) Bad Monkey, Carl Hiaasen - * * 1/2
28) The Walking Dead: The Rise of the Governor, Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga - * * *
29) Allegiant, Veronica Roth - * * 1/2
30) World's Strongest Librarian, Josh Hanagarne - * * *
31) The Wolf on Wall Street, Jordan Belfort - * *

Only 31 books but 31 more than if I hadn't read any, right? I need to do more reading this year. More quality reading. A degree in English means I should probably challenge myself more in the literary world.

The Wolf of Wall Street

I finished The Wolf of Wall Street last year but didn't get a chance to write about it until now. I've been wanting to see this movie (despite its poor box office showing) and recently learned it's based on a memoir by Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio's character).

Source

Good Reads' Synopsis: By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could, on drugs, sex, and international globe-trotting. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids waiting at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called . . .

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

In the 1990s Jordan Belfort, former kingpin of the notorious investment firm Stratton Oakmont, became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of the canyons of Wall Street and into a massive office on Long Island. Now, in this astounding and hilarious tell-all autobiography, Belfort narrates a story of greed, power, and excess that no one could invent.

Reputedly the prototype for the film Boiler Room, Stratton Oakmont turned microcap investing into a wickedly lucrative game as Belfort’s hyped-up, coked-out brokers browbeat clients into stock buys that were guaranteed to earn obscene profits—for the house. But an insatiable appetite for debauchery, questionable tactics, and a fateful partnership with a breakout shoe designer named Steve Madden would land Belfort on both sides of the law and into a harrowing darkness all his own.

From the stormy relationship Belfort shared with his model-wife as they ran a madcap household that included two young children, a full-time staff of twenty-two, a pair of bodyguards, and hidden cameras everywhere—even as the SEC and FBI zeroed in on them—to the unbridled hedonism of his office life, here is the extraordinary story of an ordinary guy who went from hustling Italian ices at sixteen to making hundreds of millions. Until it all came crashing down . . .
What I Thought: I liked this at the start and then things started to get really repetitive. You can only read so much (522 pages worth) about crooked trading on Wall Street, drug use, hookers, adultery, etc and so on. Belfort has led quite a life but his story could have been cut in half. It's a New York Times Bestseller but I'm not sure why. As long as I thought it was, it's not even the whole story! There's another book about how he got taken down, time in prison, and more. I don't think I'll be reading that one.

Rating: * *

Brrrr - It's Cold in Here

First things first. TGIM. Has anyone in the history of time ever said, "Thank God it's Monday"? I really don't mean TGIM but mostly just, hey -- it's Monday. It's part of that positive attitude business.

Maybe you've noticed, the new year brought a slight facelift to Ashley See, Ashley Does. Do you like it? I spent quite a long time on that photo collage of my favorite thing: ME! (Just kidding - my favorite thing is cheese) But, it did take a long time so I hope you like it. If you're reading on a feed or blog reader, do pop over to the actual site, will you?

How was your weekend? Mine was super productive! Saturday included lots of running around and John and I saw American Hustle. We liked it. I loved the casting even if the pace of the whole thing was a bit off. That's not their fault. Oh, on Friday I went out to lunch with work friends which I never ever ever do. I treated myself to a veggie burger. I am OB-SESSED with veggie burgers. This was quinoa and black bean based and it was delicious. I almost got another veggie burger on Saturday for lunch but went with turkey instead. I am on holiday detox. The burgers help.

On Sunday, we were supposed to get a major storm so we holed up for the day. All it did was rain though we did get some snow later on when the temperatures dropped. Other parts of Ohio did not fare so well and we are having some terrible frigidity today. But, it gave me the opportunity to do a lot of cleaning and organizing.

I pinned this link on how to clean your washing machine on Pinterest. A friend said she tried it and it worked really well so I gave it a whirl. My machine didn't seem particularly dirty but there's been a musty smell in the laundry room. This cleaning got rid of the smell so I'd say it worked.

Sunday morning, we received our first Sunday edition of the New York Times which was a Christmas gift. John and I had read for about 5 minutes before saying to each other that we felt smarter already. The local paper is terrible and we had cancelled that some time ago. Now I can feel well-versed on the goings on of the world again.

I've also just discovered there is a group who will come and pick up all the stuff you would normally donate at Goodwill directly from your front porch. This is fantastic news and I have been culling all closets!

OK, that's all I've got to keep you riveted for today. Stay warm, friends!

December Miles and 2013 Running Wrap Up

All the miles are run and tonight my 2014 miles begin!

Dec 1: 7 mi TM in 1:01:34, 8:54 avg

Dec 3: 4 mi TM, 35:39, hill interval

Dec 5: 3.3 mi TM, 29:30, SORE

Dec 8: 5 mi , 45:16, 9:03 avg

Dec 10: 5 mi, 45:00, neg. splits

Dec 12:  4 mi, 33:41, tempo intervals,     9:05/8:16/8:11/8:09

Dec 15: 6 mi, 54:06

Dec 17:  4.1 mi, 33:59    8:48/8:10/8:06/7:55 :)

Dec 19: 3.2 mi, 29:11, not feeling it

Dec 29: 4 mi, 36:12

Dec 31: 5 mi, 42:59

Total Mileage: 50.6



January: 45.7
February: 45
March: 50.7
April: 51.3
May: 32.9
June: 54.3
July: 53.6
August: 52.5
September: 51.4
October: 49.4
November: 54.6
December: 50.6

Total Miles Run in 2013: 592!!!


Not bad, eh? I can't believe I was that close to 600! Had I been tallying the months along the way, I would have thrown in those extra 8 miles at some point. Darn.

2012 was the year I pledged to run 500 miles and I topped that goal at 516.4. This past year, I pushed myself even further and while I wasn't training for a race, I was more consistent with my running schedule throughout the year. In 2014, I'm going to work on getting much faster, much better at road running as opposed to the treadmill, and running far more than 600 miles. 

I got a new pair of shoes for Christmas that I've needed desperately. I'm ready to hit the ground running.

Welcome to 2014!

Happy New Year, everyone!!!

Did you stay up too late? Did you have some good champagne?

How long will it take you to remember to write 2014 as the date?

The other day, John and I were reflecting on 2013 and what our favorite things were about the year. As we recalled life in general, we realized we had a pretty fantastic year. I'm dubbing 2013 the Year of the Trip. Ashley did a LOT of seeing and doing this year. We finally got to go on our European Adventure! It was just as amazing as I had dreamed after all the months of planning. Celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary while there made it that much more special. Hard to believe we've been together for 11 1/2 years in all.

We also headed down to Raleigh over Labor Day to visit with family and meet our newest nephew, Ethan. What a wonderful little guy! He was such a different baby from his older brother Ben but of course we love them both the same. Ethan is so easy going and Ben is growing up so fast. We need to see them more this coming year!

As if that weren't enough, we took another trip to re-do our last rainy Mexican adventure. This time we sought refuge in the always sunny Caribbean on the Oasis of the Seas. Having sailed twice before, we were certain our third cruise would be a winner and it did not disappoint.

I think 2014 will likely be the Year of the House. While I'd love to spend every extra cent circling the globe, we decided it would be more responsible to upgrade some areas of our home we've been ignoring. Flooring, appliances, etc. We've got a lot of trouble to get into.

What were the highlights of your year? I have a resolution for you.....leave me more comments! I want to hear from you. :)

P.S. I'm giving up coffee for my New Year's Resolution. Check back in with me later on how that's going!