Long Time, No See!

It humored me that my previous post started with me saying how I hadn't written a post in a long time, because of being busy with work. I don't have an excuse this time!

A few things have changed in my life since then... for starters, I am no longer teaching. Deciding to give up my job was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made. For as long as I can remember, I have always been in school, whether as a student or as a teacher. I have always been busy and I do enjoy being busy. Over the last few years though, being busy and stressed constantly was not doing me any favors. My health - mental, physical and emotional - was not good. I am lucky to be married to a great man who thought I needed to take some time off to work on my health and was willing to be a one income family. Some days I wonder if I made a mistake, quitting a job, when there are so many out there in desperate need of one; I have to do what is best for our family though, and right now that is to find a better balance in my life.

It can be hard being unemployed. People think less of you - I don't understand that. When I was working, I never thought less of anyone that wasn't working, whether it was because they had children they were raising or for other reasons. No one has flat out said anything to me but sometimes the comments I get when people ask "What do you do?" and I respond with "Well, currently I am not working, if that's what you mean." are just snide and condescending. Or I get the people who try to "fix" my "problem", always giving suggestions of where else I could teach, or a different job I could try. They don't understand that I am currently happy with my situation and so is my husband. It baffles me why America thinks you're only valuable if you are making money...there is so much more to life than that.

One thing that has been like a full-time job currently is selling our house! We decided to sell it ourselves instead of listing with a realtor and I was amazed how quickly we were able to get a contract! I think it took about 26 days, from the day we listed it online to the day we got signatures on the contract. We are in the process of finding our next home - we're not moving away, just moving to a different home. We both like this house but we are in need of some different spaces that this home doesn't offer. Plus, I am ready to be away from the corn field! Just last night, we listened to scratching in the wall. Ok, it also could have been a raccoon, possum or something else on the porch, but I don't care! That noise will forever strike fear and dread in me wherever I am!

I've also gotten a membership at the local gym. This has been huge for me! I know it's been an excuse my whole life but I always felt like I didn't have enough time in the day to do everything that had to be done AND get a workout in. Since June, I've been going pretty consistently (we're talking 3-4 times a week, on average). I started out mostly going to the classes that they offered but then switched over to working out on my own using the machines and weights. This actually surprises me, because I always told myself I would work out harder in a group class, with someone telling me what to do. But I caught myself always comparing me to what others looked like, or how they were doing the moves. I still go occasionally because there are some fun classes (like a cardio dance class!) but for the most part, I hit the elliptical, treadmill or bike hard and then strap on my gloves to lift. There's this whole toss up on whether you should do more cardio or more weight lifting. I think you should do both. I do cardio first because if I don't have enough energy, I will talk myself out of it. Whereas I have more of a competitive edge with myself on lifting, so even if I'm tired, I will still do it.

You would think without all the stress and worry, the weight would be falling off. Not so. That's what weight lifting will do. It slows down your initial weight loss but even though the scale didn't move at first, my body felt and started looking better! So for anyone out there afraid of lifting weights because they "don't want to bulk up" or "don't want to gain weight, even if it is muscle", stop being afraid! It's one of the best decisions I made this summer. I'm starting to notice my weight slowly going down. I only check it about every other day, first thing in the morning (after using the bathroom, of course!). Sure, I'd love for it to fall off rapidly! But if it comes off that fast, it will come back on just as fast! This is about life changes. I don't feel deprived of any food - no food is off limits. It's all about moderation. And for me, it was also about training myself that food is not a comfort - if I'm feeling down, depressed or sad, I either go workout or do something else, besides eat.

My plan is to update this more frequently, whether it is about my daily life, a yummy recipe I have found or something fitness related! Who knows...maybe I'll rename my blog something more fitting.

Sweet Potato Burger with Fried Egg

Just got done re-reading one of my last posts...about how I was going to blog more consistently. Also about the demands of being a middle school teacher. So, looking at the dates, you can see the demands obviously haven't gotten any easier! I have been cooking healthy meals and been doing yoga consistently though so there's my positive!

Speaking of yoga, it started out with me going back through a book I had received at Christmas a few years back. It's called "Yoga Cures" by Tara Stiles. I loved taking yoga classes about 3 years ago but the yoga instructor moved away. Remember, I live in a smaller town so when she moved, that was it. No more yoga class. I decided on a snow day this January to do some yoga positions out of the book. My first sun salutation in years felt amazing! One of the moves is a plank and you move into a push-up essentially. I struggled so hard but decided to make it my challenge for myself! I decided to start timing my plank to see how long I could hold. First time was less than 10 seconds. Shameful, I know. But each day I could do more and more. The last time I timed, which was earlier this week, I was up to 1:10. Still pretty weak but for someone who is not very in-shape, that means something! 

Honestly, I wish I could have more cardio that I enjoy but I'm not a big cardio fan. I love Zumba and other dance-like cardio exercises but I don't have a lot of those options here. So, I'm making due! Once the weather warms up, I'll be able to get outdoors again, which I love!

On to the recipe...

A few weeks back...maybe even a whole month or longer...I found a recipe I had pinned on Pinterest for sweet potato "burgers" with avocado and the fixins on top. I pulled my usual switch-it-up and produced a yummy dinner for us!

Everything tastes fabulous with a fried egg on it!

Sweet Potato Burger with Fried Egg

Makes 6 large patties

Ingredients

2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 large sweet potato, baked/peeled/mashed

2 Tbsp. tahini

2 tsp. maple syrup

1 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning (I used Mrs. Dash)

1/4 cup wheat flour

Other spices... I used ground ginger and cardamom

plentiful breadcrumbs

EVOO for pan

Directions

1. Mix the first seven ingredients (through the "other spices") together in a large mixing bowl. It will be very moist but you should be able to form patties. If not, throw in some bread crumbs.

2. Heat EVOO over medium-high heat in a large pan.

3. Form patties from the mixture, then coat in the bread crumbs. Drop patty into the pan. Do this until pan is full. Cook until browned on both sides. Transfer patties to a paper towel and allow to cool. Serve!

We enjoyed ours on a Ciabatta bun, with Dijon mustard, arugula and a fried egg on top! FABULOUS!

Buffalo Vegetarian Quinoa

Over my winter break, I had some downtime (that's what happens when you have a week and a half off, no kids and live an hour and a half away from family), so I cleaned out some of my Pinterest boards. I know...it's sad that I even have to do that. BUT...I found a lot of recipes that I had pinned and didn't want to get rid of but hadn't tried yet. So, I decided I would try one out! Being my typical I-don't-follow-a-recipe-exactly-as-is-ever self, I made some changes from the original! Here is my result....an under 300-calorie per serving Buffalo Vegetarian Quinoa!

It was SO yummy...can't wait to eat leftovers!

Ingredients
[Salad]
1 cup quinoa, dry
2 cups water
2-ish cups broccoli florets
2-ish cups coleslaw mix (the carrot/cabbage mixture)
4 green onions, sliced

[Dressing]
1/3 cup EVOO
1/2 cup Franks Wing Sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

Directions
1. In a medium pot, combine the quinoa and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn the heat to low. Cook until all the water is absorbed, which is about 20 minutes. Then, remove from heat and fluff with a fork to make sure no liquid is at the bottom.

2. While quinoa is cooking mix the dressing ingredients together until thoroughly blended. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp EVOO and saute the broccoli until softened and tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add in 1/4 of the dressing sauce.

3. Add the coleslaw, green onions and rest of the dressing and mix together. Once heated through (the cabbage will start to look opaque-ish), add in the cooked quinoa and toss well.

Enjoy!

*You can add blue cheese crumbles on top of your serving (or feta is a good replacement if you don't like moldy cheeses)

Re-Introducing Myself

Hello. My name is Jenni. I am a twenty-something who is currently a middle school science teacher that is not enjoying her job. I can't make decisions well, which is why this is my 5th year teaching even though I've liked my job less and less each year. Part of me stays because I don't want to let down the co-workers that I have grown to love. I also WANT to enjoy teaching. Also, I'm one more year away from being vested in the retirement system (I could quit after this year and purchase one more year...but it's expensive). There's other reasons I would argue for staying but those are the main points.

Part of me wants to leave teaching also. I don't feel excited about it anymore. I don't enjoy the process of coming up with engaging lessons for my students anymore. Don't get me wrong, I am still trying. I'm just always strung out/stressed/unhappy because of the demands of my job. I want to do it right and feel like I can't. A lot of it is the politics of education anymore. It's not teaching anymore; it's pretty much everything BUT teaching.

My husband tells me I over-complicate my life. I used to get mad when he would say things like that. It's because I knew it was true but didn't want it to be true. That's a lot of why people get mad at others. It's because they've pointed out a fact that the other person doesn't want to accept as being true, even though they know it is. So instead of getting mad at my husband about my "truths", I've learned to stop and think about what he has said. Now I know that I truly do over-complicate most aspects of my life. I still haven't figured out why I do that...maybe I should go back to counseling!

Right now I am watching The Mindy Project, which just so happens to be my new favorite show. I have a bunch of episodes on my DVR from New Years Eve, when they were running a marathon of her shows. I am now on the most current episode, which is HILARIOUS! It's the office Christmas party one (for those of you obsessed like me) and I can't wait to see the part with the wine bra and Danny's awesome Secret Santa dance for Mindy. Best. Dance. Ever.

In other news, I've gotten back into my cooking fun. The beginning of the school year was rough and I wasn't enjoying cooking as much because it was more of a stress than an enjoyable experience. (By the way, completely lost my train of thought mid-sentence because the Danny-Secret-Santa-dance part came on!) I also did not work out more than 4 times from August-December because of the stress. I'm not going to let this happen anymore. I'm going to fix healthy (most of the time) meals and workout during the week. You actually feel better and have more energy when you workout! So...that's my plan and I'm sticking to it!

I used to make New Years resolutions but you always get disappointed with those, because rarely do you ever actually meet your resolutions by the end of the year. So, instead of saying "I will workout 5 times every week" or "I will eat every vegetable ever", I'm simply going to continue my venture of eating healthy, cooking new recipes and being more consistent at working out. I need to remember how much better I feel and how much more confidence I have when I'm doing those things consistently. I think I'm done now because I feel like I'm rambling. Adios.

Caprese Lasagna Rolls

Of course, I found this gem of a recipe on none other than...Pinterest! Seriously, I have this whole bookshelf of cookbooks but most of what I make comes from Pinterest. I feel sorry for my cookbooks...I do still use them, just not very frequently!

This past weekend, my husband and I spent some time at the lake. We left on Wednesday night and came home Monday night. It was rainy most of the time we were there so we only got out on the boat twice, and swam in the lake once. But, it was a very nice time. Sometimes it's nice to just go somewhere else and relax. Hubby got to finish his book, read an entire other book and start its sequel! What a reading machine... I got to browse Pinterest, play my phone games and get stuff ready for the school year. We ate dinner out every night, which made us decide we wanted to go mainly meatless this week. Hence, this recipe!

I'm not a big lasagna fan normally because of all the meat that goes into it! This recipe has no meat (though you could probably put some in if you wanted to!) so I was eager to try it out. Plus, who doesn't love a good Caprese anything?! 

A few things about this recipe...make sure you get your noodles boiling at the same time you start on the tomato sauce. This will give them enough time to cool off for you to lay them out. I singed the tips of my fingers because I wasn't patient enough...so maybe the lesson is just to be patient. Either way. When you spread the cheese mixture on the noodles, leave about 1/2" at the end of the noodle so you don't lose any cheese to rolling! Also, when you go to roll up the noodles, just think back to your childhood slumber parties. It's just like rolling up a sleeping bag! Tuck and roll...tuck and roll...

Mmm mmm mmmmm....

Caprese Lasagna Rolls

8 lasagna noodles, uncooked

14 oz shredded mozzarella, divided

3/4 cup Ricotta cheese

1 large egg white

1/3 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

3-4 medium Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced (about 1/6" thick)

1/4 cup chopped basil

1 cup tomato sauce (recipe below)

Tomato Sauce

2 Tbsp EVOO

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely minced

28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

S&P

1. Begin by making the tomato sauce. Heat EVOO in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, then throw in garlic and saute for a minute or two. Pour in crushed tomatoes and season with salt & pepper to taste. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes (or until ready to use it!)

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta noodles according to the package directions. Drain and line them up in a single layer on either parchment or wax paper.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the Ricotta cheese and egg white. Mix well. Add in Parmesan cheese, 12 oz of Mozzarella cheese and a little pepper. Mix well.

4. In the bowl, divide the cheese mixture into 8 equal parts. Spread onto the lasagna noodles in a thin layer. Then place about 4 tomato slices on each lasagna noodle. Sprinkle with basil. Then, roll them up!

5. Lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray, then spread some of the tomato sauce into a thin layer on the bottom. Place each lasagna roll seam-side down in the baking dish. Top each roll with more tomato sauce. The better you cover it, the less likely your noodles are to dry out when baking. Sprinkle the rest of the Mozzarella cheese on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy!

Huevos Rancheros Twofer!

My husband and I just got back earlier this week from a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada. This was a family trip with his side of the family and it was gorgeous! Fantastic trip. Makes me wish I lived somewhere with less humidity, bluer skies and less worries. We got back late Saturday evening, so we slept in on Sunday. My husband requested we make huevos rancheros for dinner, which we had never made before, so I got to researching as usual! Let's just say, we will be making this meal again in the near-ish future! Crispy tortillas, rich black beans, tangy ranchero sauce and creamy avocado make this meal muy bien! (bien is a French word...I took French in high school...hoping it's also Spanish!)

Nom, nom, nom...yum!

Huevos Rancheros
1 15-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup diced onion
1 garlic clove, peeled & smashed
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded if desired
1/2 tsp kosher salt
5 oz chorizo, diced
EVOO
4 fajita size tortillas
4 eggs
1 avocado, pitted and sliced, for garnish
shredded cheese, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a food processor, combine tomatoes, cilantro, onion, garlic, jalapeno (we also threw in a banana pepper from our garden!), and salt. Puree until smooth. Transfer sauce to a small skillet and simmer until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Cover and keep warm.

2. In a large skillet, cook chorizo over medium-high heat until browned, about 5 minutes (we used already cooked chorizo, so we warmed it up and used the oil from it to cook our eggs in). Add chorizo to sauce and cover again.

3. Place tortillas on a baking sheet and pop into the oven. Keep an eye on them. When they start to puff up, they are ready!

4. Add some EVOO to the oil in the skillet if not very much oil is left. Crack each egg individually into the skillet and cook over-easy.

5. Place tortillas on plate, then black beans, egg, ranchero sauce, cheese and avocado. Enjoy!

Sooo, that whole "then black beans" thing came out of nowhere right? Here's the recipe I use for black beans that are delectable! Just make sure, if you are using them in the huevos rancheros recipe, that you use a slotted spoon when putting them on the tortillas, otherwise you get a big, hot, black bean mess.

Best Black Beans EVER
1 16-oz can black beans (use low-sodium since you won't be rinsing these)
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the beans, onion, and garlic. Bring to a small boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Add in cilantro, cayenne pepper and a LITTLE salt. Simmer about 5 minutes, or until ready to serve!

Best Banana Pudding You Will EVER Eat!

While I do not currently have a picture of this banana pudding, you have to trust me that this is the best banana pudding recipe ever! One of my co-workers made this and brought it in a few years ago. At the time,  I wasn't thrilled about eating banana pudding; it never really was something I thought I would like. As soon as I had a bite of this though...oh my goodness, I can't stop thinking about it! It's not too overpowering with the banana flavor, which is good because honestly, I'm not big on the flavor of bananas. It's just perfect!

Best Banana Pudding

Vanilla Wafer cookies
Bananas
Large instant vanilla pudding box
2 cups milk
1 pkg. cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 small container whipped topping

1. Lay out cookies in 9x13 dish, then top with slices of banana.
2. In a bowl, mix together pudding mix and milk. In another larger bowl, combine cream cheese and condensed milk until smooth.
3. Pour pudding mixture into cream cheese mixture and mix well. Mix in whipped topping. Spread mixture over bananas and cookies. Top with more cookies. Store in refrigerator until enjoying!