Fitness challenge

So lately I got a notification about a new fitness challenge offered over at The Domestic Pagan blog (www.thedomesticpagan.com). I thought it was really a fun idea and decided to join. It's called the "Get off your broom" fitness challenge.

The blog owner, Julie, is taking her job as hostess of the challenge really seriously. She is going to be giving weekly mini challenges. Since this is the start her first challenge is take a "before" picture of yourself and take your measurements.

So here is my photos, yuck.

Finally, my measurements.....

Bust-41.5

Waist- 40

Hips- 49

My goals are to eat healthy. I don't want to follow a diet plan, I want to change my eating lifestyle. Also I would like to start running or at the very least working out more. I have done many diets in the past and found that if you follow them you will lose weight. My problem is a lot of time the limitations are not something I find sustainable. So I need to learn to eat moderately and healthy. The working out more would be part of an overall lifestyle overhaul.

So good luck to everyone involved, I hope we are all successful!

Upside-down cake

I am all for easy. I hate recipes that take a long time and are complicated to execute. I don't have the time or the patience. I will leave those recipes to the professionals.

So I was very happy to find this recipe in Food and Drink magazine. The original recipe is for plums and raspberries but I had lots of plums, apricots and blackberries from the garden to use. You will need a spring form pan for this recipe though.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 sticks of room temperature unsalted butter
1/3 cup of packed brown sugar
6 medium apricots
3 large plums
1/2 pint of blackberries
(OR in the original recipe it calls for 6 medium plums and 1/2 pint of raspberries)
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup of sour cream (I used 2% yogurt instead)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease a round 8 1/2 inch by 2 1/2 inch spring form pan (I believe mine was 9" by 3" and it worked too). Line the greased pan with parchment paper. Melt two tablespoons of butter and pour into lined pan. Using a sieve, sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the melted butter. Cut the plums and apricots in half and remove the pit. Place the halves cut side down in the pan on top of the brown sugar. Squeeze in as many as possible to allow for shrinkage while baking. Fill in the gaps with the blackberries and set aside.

Sift flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder together; set aside. With an electric mixer cream the remaining butter and the granulated sugar until well blended. Add in vanilla extract and mix. Add the egg yolks one at a time ensuring that you mix well after each addition. Add half of the flour mixture and mix until combined. Add in the sour cream (or yogurt), and mix. Then add the remaining flour mixture and blend.

Spoon the cake batter on top of the fruit in the pan and spread it evenly using a small spatula. Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any juices and put it in the oven. Bake for 60-70 min, insert a toothpick into the cake to ensure the baking is done. If it comes out clean then remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool for an hour. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen cake and invert on a serving plate.

Easy Bread recipe

I got this from the blog "Good Cheap Eats". Its a really quick and easy bread recipe that you can alter.

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour (I used 2 of reg. flour and 2 of whole wheat)
3 tbsp sugar (I use organic cane sugar) + 1 tsp for the yeast
1 1/2 cups of water warmed (to 100F if you have a thermometer)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 pkg of yeast or 2 tsp from a jar (follow the directions to get the yeast active)

** you can add herbs, dried fruit and nuts to this recipe easily

Directions-

activate the yeast following the directions on the label (this usually needs 10min to sit). Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. add olive oil and yeast (once its foaming). combine together until you have a nice dough ball. cover the bowl with a moist towel and let sit in a warm spot for 30 min to proof. once proofed, knead the bread for about 5 min then
place in greased bread pan. Or just leave in a large boule and cook as is. preheat oven to 350F and cook bread for about 30 min or until the crust is golden brown and the bottom is hardened.

Bean Bruschetta

Made this last night for a quick and easy dinner. I used my slow cooker but you could easily give it a quick bake in the oven as well. My kids loved it!

Ingredients:

3 cans of beans (I used romano, kidney and black)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of corn
2 onions diced
3 cloves of garlic diced
1 red pepper diced
a palmful of fresh basil leaves chopped
1 tsp chili powder

1 package of goat cheese (or any cheese you prefer)
salt and pepper to taste
1 italian or french loaf of bread

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients, except the cheese and bread, in the slow cooker or a oven proof dish. For the slow cooker, cook on low for 4-6 hours and in the oven cook at 350 F for 30 min. Cut your loaf in half lengthwise and lay on a baking sheet. Spread the bean mixture over the bread. Crumble the cheese over top and broil until bread and cheese are browning.

My trip to Newfoundland

Newfoundland is a place of harsh dramatic beauty. It is hard to believe that it is all real and that people actually live there. While in the summer it is beautiful and hospitable the trees that cling to the cliffs and the harsh lines of the rocky shores tell a different story. The hills and the houses that are built on them look quaint and charming but more then once I pondered how the people get out their door in the winter.

Still I was awed by the immense hills that are a part of life in Newfoundland and I fell in love with the smell and the roar of the ocean. I was charmed by the hospitality of the people and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them speak and sing.

I went through the Screeching in ceremony and am proud to call myself and honorary Newfoundlander. I had an amazing east coast experience in which we fished our own lobster fresh from the ocean then carried up the hill to the house and had it for dinner. I pushed myself through the grueling hike up Signal Hill but was rewarded with amazing vistas and on overall sense of accomplishment. I have stood on the very eastern edge of North America and saw whales spouting.

I will never forget my experience.

Hot

The kids had their first soccer games this week. So CUTE!

We have had tons of hummingbirds at our feeder. The kids love it because they can stand right under the feeder and the hummingbirds will still come to it.

Not doing a lot of cooking lately. Tonight I am going to try the Tuna Melts that were posted on the blog Octoberfarm. It has been too hot to think of stoves and BBQ's. I just want to melt on my deck with a cold drink.

The garden seems to be doing well. My irises are in full bloom and look beautiful and the tomatoes and sugar peas are growing nicely in the garden. I keep looking for all the other seeds I planted to start sprouting but nothing is showing yet.

My neighbor brought my over a vase full of her peonies. They are so beautiful, they are white with a few fuscia petals in the middle. I sprayed my roses last night because I can see buds forming but I never get any roses because of aphids. So I figured this year I would get a jump on them and spray them before infestation.

My Kids

LOVE THEM TO BITS!