It's Official, I need 1- 800 ...

Okay, so I have been just racking my brain for weeks now over this blog thing.  Do I keep using Blogger, do I go to Word Press?  How do I start creating? Do I self host, not self host?  URL's, HTML'S, RSS, WIDGET, GIDGET, BUTTONS, GADGETS, I'VE HAD IT!

As much as I love getting to my organized, super cute desk to my computer and just let my fingers run all over the keyboard - flowing like a gentle spring breeze coming through the window, I find myself stuck at times.  I can't tell you how many days, even at the oddest moments that I have "the story" in my mind that I want or need to share. 

It is almost always at the oddest time and of course when I have no pen or paper around that something comes to me. 

• The shower... guess I need a dry/erase board hanging right outside the shower curtain. 
• The car... I wonder if I can use OnStar as my personal dictation program, you know just call them up and say "No, I don't have an emergency","I just need to record my thoughts, can you send them back to me"?
• Out running/walking as I start mumbling to myself the thoughts, only to hope that I can remember them by the time I get home and that anyone passing me thinks I am just talking to my dog.

Oh and about "blogging", I have no idea how the mom's with little one's at home do it.  My kids are in school during the day and I have the time, of course between making recipes, running Fitnessmomwinecountry, finding the time and not excuses to keep exercising, planning meals for the night or week, the house work, the errands....hmmmm and let's see I know there is more....OH yes and showering!  I am totally impressed and amazed by the blogging I have seen out there, the great one's I love to follow and the posts are done almost daily.  How on earth ladies?  Please, do tell.  There must be a "secret" to accomplishing all this.

 

 I don't have daily "workout" logs that I blog.  I don't have the DIY "crafts" to share.  We all pretty much know by now that I can't bake (although when I do, I put in every effort I can to NOT catch anything on fire and to try to give my kids those memories). I do however have our food and recipes to share and our daily, quirky stories from life in our family.  So I guess that will have to be enough for now.  I have to remind myself to not worry about what I am NOT doing or what I can't keep up and know that I am doing what is working for me and LOVE and enjoy reading the accomplishments of others out there, while adding a small corner of my world with the rest of yours.

For those who read and follow me and my family, I appreciate it and love you coming back for more, and when I am having those moments when I am feeling lost in "blog fog", I always have my naps!

Be Blessed
Lynda xoxoxo

That's the Button!!

I am so tired of the "hot flashes".  I mean really?  Well today I was drying my hair and it hit me  (not the hair dryer, although I have hit myself in the head a few times with it while in use) but the "Cool" button, the "Cool" setting. I have figured it out.

The hair dryer was invented by a woman who suffered from hot flashes.  Hot flashes while sleeping, while shopping, while getting dressed and un-dressed, while in the middle of a rain storm..you name it...she was fed up.  SO, she invented the "cool" button.

Now, there is the "cool blast" which is the quick button OR the "cool setting" in which you place your dryer and leave. Sure it takes about an hour longer to dry that beautiful mane of hair, but ohhhhh what a great feeling standing in the bathroom feeling fresh instead of having beads of sweat on your forehead, cleavage, even under the arm or in some cases the back. With this set on your dryer we are able to enjoy that time in the bathroom struggling with the round brush (hate those) and walk away from the mirror looking and feeling fresh, not like we just came in from a sauna. 

And what is with hair dryers?  Seriously, I posted on www.facebook.com/fitnessmomwinecountry about two weeks ago my hair dryer experience and the fire. Yes, it caught on fire, and I headed on down to the local CVS to pick up a new one, (wet hair and all).  When did hair dryers become so complicated?  There is the super economy version OR the deluxe, I am a hair goddess version.  Come on, it's a hair dryer!  Our daugther Faith was with me and while sitting on the floor in the aisle we decided to go with the cool color one.  Pink! That was it, pink and it so happened that the Conair dryer we choose was a "breast cancer" support version and it was in the mid-way section as far as price.  So winner for everyone all around.  Happy and home, super excited to dry my hair, only to get home and find about 4 different "contraptions" to add on to the dryer.  Ughhhhhh, did  I mention it had a "cool button"? :)

 

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4093980/?claim=48csm47k8a9">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Shrimp Nachos...yes Shrimp

We love Nachos in our home...and cooking our own chips makes them even better.  The great thing about our nachos, we can always change them up.....This time we used shrimp.

 

 

Saute shrimp in EVOO and garlic (fresh or powder)
Corn
Black Beans
Cilantro
Cumin
Fresh Lime Juice
Sea Salt
Red Bell Pepper

Chop all ingredients and add together in bowl

Layer your chips and cover with cheese...we used Pepper Jack and Cheddar, then top with homemade salsa and shrimp mixture and bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees until melted and warmed through (about 30 min)

Top with fresh cilantro, avocado, tomato, lettuce, onion...whatever your choice and enjoy :)

Fitnessmomwinecountry xoxox

Here We Go...This Is Me

So I am going to post something a little different today.  Normally I am chatting and sharing about food, which is great and I plan on continuing.

However, some new and exiting things have taken place recently and I have been introduced to an entire array of blogs and sites written by so many different and amazing women.

It has been an honor to join the families of Fitfluential and FitApproach as an ambassador to their programs.  This has been amazing as I am now amongst a family of strong and supportive and inspiring women from all over the place. Since reading and chatting and social media-ing (my new word I just made up) with these gals and following many blogs, it has given me the courage to be able to step (once again) out of my own personal comfort zone and realize that I can share and write about other things besides food.

I can share my faults, my triumphs, my progress, my journey, my family, my giggles and my tears.  For all I know, I could be here writing to myself.  I wonder if anyone else has ever had that feeling.  Sitting at her or his computer with words in our heads just waiting to come out and fill up the space in front of us. Hmmmm.  Well I will just "assume" so, in order for me to feel brave enough to keep going.

I think one of the "eye openers" to this day was when I received a comment on here from http://kindergartencrush17.wordpress.com/about/ saying that I was one of the blogs she nominated for Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  That was one of those "WHAT, WOW, ME" moments.  How could that be?  I am not inspiring.  I make food and share recipes and am Fitnessmomwinecountry.  We just never know just who we are to others out there.  I know I am inspired by more woman than I have room for on this post.

So with all this said, and without getting to deep or boring.  Todays' post has some points and here they are as follows:

• I am going to know that I am inspiring to some
• I am going to continue to practice what I preach as I do on Fitnessmom and step out of my own comfort zone more often
• I am going to share my stories with those who will read them and follow (well I am posting them anyway)
• I am learning new things everyday in the social media world and will keep going at it even when I want to bang my head on the keyboard and cry until some social media God comes through the door to do it all for me
• I am going to start (today) my treadmill program in order to get back on track and prep for my up-coming 5k
• I am going to tell myself I can do more than a 5k and work for that
• I am not going to talk myself out of doing something because I self doubt me OR because I find excuses
• I am going to continue to be humble and gracious to those out there who are kind and patient enough to help me when I need
• I am going to continue to help others out there who reach out to me for help
• I am going to enjoy the journey of blogging and growing Fitnessmomwinecountry into something amazing, driven by my pure passion and insomnia, followed with alot of coffee and at times some great wine
• I am going to start video blogging again (and not be afraid to do so)
• I am just going to BE ME and all the rest will fall into place

I love hearing from you, so please share your comments. 

Health * Fitness * Wellness  xooxxo

Pomegranate Is In The House....Must Be Fall

The "Harvest"salad. 

It is a weeknight and the kids had their bowls of pasta for dinner, while the hubby and I sat and enjoyed a "quite" evening consisting of this great salad and a glass of light wine.  Perfect ending to another busy day.

Ingredients (minus the measuring of course)

Baby Mixed Greens
Fresh Pomegranate Seeds
Goat Cheese
Pulled Roasted Chicken (easy to just buy a whole roasted chicken from the market already cooked)
Sliced Red Onion
Sweet Coppa (a traditional Italian cold cut)
Balsamic Dressing

Now there are different ways to cut and open or "seed" a pomegranate, and I am sure we have heard and tried them all,  but here are two ways I will share anyway. 

The "long" version.

Cut the pomegranate at the crown, score in several places (without) cutting all the way through, soak in a bowl of cold water upside down for about 10 mins, break apart the rind and membrane and the seeds will fall out into the bowl.  Drain and pat dry with a towel. 

OR
The "quick and painless" version.

Cut at the crown, cut in half and hit the pomegranate with the back of a spoon and the seeds will fall out.   Yes, this is how we break into ours.

Pomegranate seeds need to be eaten right away or they can stay refrigerated for about 2 days.

Add all ingredients together and toss with a light Balsamic dressing.

I love hearing feed back from you, so please feel free to comment or share my recipes with your friends. 

Lynda (Fitnessmomwinecountry) xoxo

I know better, so why do I even bother....???

Okay same story different project. Once again I got sweet talked into a "baking" project with our ever so cute and sweet daughter Faith. Alright, there is a small part of me inside that really enjoys it, no wait...I don't enjoy it, what I enjoy is the fantasy of being one of those cool moms that gets the kitchen nice and cozy with all the ingredients layed out and looking pretty in their measuring apparatus, dressed in a cute apron, hair pulled back and put together. Of course my daughter is dressed in her cute apron, gleeming up at me like I am an angel with huge sparkly wings that has come to create magic in the kitchen. Ahhhhhhh.....

Wake up Lynda, first of all you have a boxed cake mix in front of you and a can of Betty Crocker whipped (extra fluffy) vanilla frosting. Reality is about to hit. Heat oven, open box and add ingredients to the bowl, period plain and simple. Only I do have one "trick" a special secret taught to me by my grandmother...Always whip the eggs, water and oil first then add the mix. Apparantly this makes any cake fluffier. What could be an afternoon of bonding with Faith and laughing and giggling as we measure, pour, stir and eat batter from the bowl, turns out to be Faith cracking the three eggs and me mixing everything in a matter of minutes.

Now there is a reason I have succumbbed to this daunting task. Faith is running for fifth grade student coucil and we are having a family night making posters and celebrating her. She has prepared her speech and we are on a mission to create enough posters to cover as many walls possible at the school the next day. So of course baking cupcakes is a must. First batch into the oven and from the taste of the batter on the spoon I would say Bravo, they are going to be a success! (Yes, I do and have eaten raw cookie and cake batter and I am still alive and healthy).

The last thing I remember was me heading up the stairs to takle whatever chore was waiting and "assuming" that since I had cupcakes in the oven and both the kids and my hubby were at the kitchen table that everything was just fine. Wrong, not only did I forget to set a timer, the family was so involved in poster making that no one really noticed the cakes going into the oven OR even me leaving the room. No, not until the smell.....yes, there is was that smell...oh I know that. Not again, I didn't, did I?

Let's jump ahead to after the "burnt cupcakes" had cooled. Thank goodness my creative and most patient hubby came up with the grandest idea (well grand to us because it stopped the tears from Faith and helped redeem me) Whoopie Pies! By cutting the bottoms off of the cupcakes (which by the way could have put a small egg on a forehead if hit with one)and slapping on some of the extra fluffy vanilla frosting in between the tops and bottoms, we created "Cupcake Whoopies".

Now that was a successful night, so it was not my "fantasy" June Cleaver moment, but it turned out to be something more special, it was OUR Family moment. No we did not actually eat the cupcakes, but handing them out to friends and grandma (Mom-in-law) was great.

Oh and student council? Faith nailed her speech without any note cards and ended up winning a seat on the representative board. Happy times ......

I'll Have the Jicama Please....

I have read about it and even have seen it in the market...Jicama, but never picked one up (that I recall) and took one home to actually do something with it.  Although I have heard how great Jicama tastes, I just did not know how good it was until last night.

Thanks to a great recipe from Simply Recipes we enjoyed Jicama Salad for two with seared shrimp (my hubby and I added the shrimp) in order to make this into a full meal and what a great idea that was.  The warm shrimp went really well mixed in with the coolness of the salad, it was a perfect blend and in fact caused of to have a "fork war" over the bites of shrimp.

The first thing is to always start out with fresh ingredients if you can.  No I am not saying that everything needs to be "organic".  I would rather have people buy and eat veggies any way that they can without worrying about paying more for the organic as I know it can get costly.  So fresh always.

Jicama 1 Whole
Red Bell Pepper 1/2
Yellow Pepper 1/2
Green Bell 1/2
Red Onion 1/2
Cucumber  1/2 (we used English cucumber) these are longer and thinner than a regular cucumber, with a thinner skin and a sweeter taste, almost seedless because the seeds are so small.  These cucumbers make great salads for Thai food recipes also.
Orange 1 Whole (cut crosswise and then quarter)
Fresh Cilantro 1/2 cup
Lime Juice (just squeeze)
Cayenne (pinch)
Paprika (pinch)
Kosher salt (pinch)
Cumin
Granulated Garlic Powder

Finely chop everything and add to a bowl with EVOO and mix together.  Set aside and let stand while preparing the shrimp.

Clean and de-vain the shrimp (there is never enough in my opinion)  so go with what you want.  Add shrimp to pan with EVOO, cumin, paprika and granulated garlic powder.  Saute until pink and done.

  

Serve all together and garnish with fresh cilantro and lime. You will want "second" helpings with this.  This with a glass of Cupcake Prosecco and Monday Night Football was perfect.

Baked Chips...and Yes I Even Burn These...

White Corn Tortillas

EVOO

Granulated Garlic Powder

Kosher Salt

  

 

Cut tortillas into triangles (or whatever shape)

Place in a bowl with EVOO and mix all the chips around to get them covered.

Place tortillas on a baking sheet coated with either a light cooking spray or you can rub the EVOO onto the baking sheet.  Sprinkle the granulated garlic powder and kosher salt over the top of the chips, (I found it easier to actually mix the garlic and salt together and use a finger pinch to spread).

 

Bake at 350 degrees in already pre-heated oven for about 15 mins. (don't do what I do and walk away and forget them) as they will burn or turn out really crunchy.

 

Serve with homemade quacamole and salsa and just put out for a fun, light snack that is great for the entire family and an easy project for the kids.

 

 

Well We Are Not In Hawaii, But We Can Do Mahi Mahi In The Wine Country

The night before my 45th birthday and since my hubby has been surprising me all week with birthday gifts and goodies...I was really pleased to have him come home from work this evening with the the words "don't worry about dinner", "I've got it tonight".  Well you don't have to tell me twice.  It is weeknight and a school night so all I had to do was worry about a quick and easy dinner for the kids and then I was to kick back and hang with my hubby as our kitchen once again turned into some gourmet eating establishment.

Fresh Mahi Mahi, Homemade MangoSalsa and Fried Plantains were the menu this evening. 

Mahi Mahi
5 Ounce piece of Mahi Mahi (keep skin on)
Ground Cumin
Paprika
Old Bay (seafood spice) or poultry
Chili Powder
Sea Salt
EVOO

Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together, then put on a plate, take the Mahi Mahi and place it (fish side down) onto the spice mixture and really get the fish covered completely, use pressure and press down on fish.  Sear the fish in a pan until golden brown *SKIN SIDE UP* the pan should have EVOO in it.  Flip the fish over and "finish" cooking in a *ALREADY pre-heated oven at 350 degrees* for about 5-10 more mins.

Mango Salsa
Mango
Fresh Cilantro
Red and Yellow Onion
Red Bell Pepper
Splash of OJ (totally okay for this recipe)

Chop ingredients and place in bowl (this is best to do a day ahead, however hours before is fine also) the longer this sits the better the flavor, but for tonight we did what we could with time.  The leftover salsa makes for a great breakfast in the morning with eggs.

Fried Plantain

1/2 banana per serving, cut into 1/2 inch slices on the bias, fry in light oil, set aside.

 

Another clean and healthy meal made at home, again I am always talking about prepping foods learning to love food enough to get creative with it.  Not only is it better for us since we control what goes into our food, but it is so much more cost effective.  The dinner was amazing.