With a heavy heart

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to say that I will no longer be posting here.

In the interest of my health, there is a person in my life with whom I have cut off all contact.  It was absolutely necessary.  That person, however, has continued to visit this page in an attempt to figure out my whereabouts.  And I do not feel comfortable with that.

I have so enjoyed writing this blog and interacting with its readers, and it saddens me that this person has ended that for me.  I am sad, especially, because I loved this blog's name.

As the saying goes, though, I think this is for the best.  I have become increasingly interested in health living, and a girl can only eat so much buttercream.

And to the person at whom this post is directed, I forgive you.  But that is all.

Jennifer

Ideas to Upgrade Your Baking

The spread for my dessert and drinks birthday party...

A chocolate buttercream layer cake, coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and a lemon-pistachio tart. 

Todd and I decided to make everything the morning of the party - a lot to begin with, but in addition, we were unfamilar with two of the recipes, including the layer cake. The sum of which made for a fun, action-packed day in which we "sampled" about a cup of buttercream.  Each.  Okay, Todd had more than me.

In these situations, it helps to take comfort that the universe will pull through for you. It also helps to know that I have a few tricks up my sleeve to help me along the way. While there's no substitute for practice, here are a couple of things I rely on to kick things up a knotch:

 

Ingredients

- Measure accurately.  You're probably way ahead of me on this.  When I made the Pistachio-Lemon Tart last weekend, I measured the flour incorrectly.  Twice.  In the same exact way.  And I didn't figure out until I rolled out the dough.  As a rule, if you're baking in AZ and the dough comes together perfectly with only the amount of liquid called for by the recipe, you've done it wrong.

- Substitute vodka from the freezer for water. It will make the dough flakier.  In a good way.

Handling

- Use a pastry cloth and rolling pin sock.

- Transfer your rolled out dough from the pastry cloth to the pie/tart pan by carefully folding it into fourths then placing it in the center of your baking dish

- When removing a false bottom tart pan from the oven, gently hold the pan from the sides, not the bottom.  If you hold the pan on the bottom, the center will pop up and the ring will slide down your arm like an oversized bracelet, etching second-degree burns into your forearm.  Just trust me on this one.

HAPPY BAKING!

ZWOWs 23 & 20 + Recent Eats

Yesterday's workout was ZWOW 23, a.k.a Burpee Torture.  Take a look:

That's right - 1-0-0 burpees!  Taking a hint from Zuzanna, I split the 2 sets of 50 into 5 sets of 10 burpees (and 2 sets of 50 for the air squats).
I also did an easy 45 minutes on the stationary bike (mostly to listen to Radio Lab...).

Some recent eats:

My new favorite flavor yogurt + chia seeds (a good source of healthy fats)

Not pictured... 1 Hershey's chocolate piece snagged from a supevsor's office + dinner = TJ's whole wheat tortilla with turkey, spinach and dijon + 2 hanfuls of green grapes.  Thankfully, also not pictured are the Mrs. Field's cookies and chocolate covered almonds someone brought to the office - I managed to avoid those temptations entirely, and I know I feel better for it!

Cups of water today = 6 , tryin' fo' 6 mo'

Just finished up ZWOW 20 (short and sweet compared to yesterday's!) and now I'm up and off to get in some more cardio the most funnest way I know...

Dinner at Desta

2 eggs and 1 egg white seasoned with sriracha, nutritional yeast, and oregano wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla.


Cappuccinos at Cartel


Snacks (not pictured) = carrots, orange, and apple

Dinner at Desta (new to me but delicious! Tucson now has 2 Ethiopian restaurants!)
 

Alright bloggies, that's it!  Next time I see you, I'll be in DC (I can't believe I haven't traveled by myself since high school and early college!)!  I'm looking forward to summer adventures and can't wait to share them with you!

O'Sullivan's

Dinner from last night

Broccoli, cauliflower, shiitake mushrooms, and chicken with 1/3c chicken stock, 3T hoison sauce, 3T rice vinegar, sriracha, and salt and pepper.  Served over buckwheat noodles.

Working...

Breakfast = apple then, a bit later, burrito with 2 eggs and 1 one white with 2 handfuls of spinach, seasoned with oregano, sriracha, and salt and pepper + black coffee

Lunch = sliced turkey breast, hefty spoonful of grind your own PB, an orange, and passion fruit greek yogurt.

Snack = 

Dinner = happy hour at Sullivan's (Todd kept joking around calling it O'Sullivan's, pretending like it was an Irish pub) then munched on leftovers from last night.  Definitely going to pay for that by gaining weight in the morning...

Have a great rest of the night, bloggies!  See you tomorrow - it's my last day to run errands before DC!

A microwave and a mini fridge

Breakfast = oatmeal with a hefty dollup of grind-your-own PB

Black Coffee

Children's Indie Radio in the background.  I've loved that stuff ever since my Mrs. Tiggy Winkle days.

 Lunch = orange + whole wheat tortilla with turkey, spinach, and stone ground mustard

This summer, the only kitchen items I'll have easy access to are a mini fridge and a microwave, so, I'm pretty sure this combination this combination is going to start appearing regularly.


Afternoon snacks = 

I haven't exactly figured out how I'm going to handle the cooking situation, but I anticipate a lot of greek yogurt, edamame, fresh fruit, spinach, garbonzo beans, kombucha, and maybe a few trips to the Whole Foods juice bar... It feels a little like living in Switzerland again, except without the Farmer Croc.


Trying out a new 'do.  (I've been wanting to try it ever since lindy-hopper Jo Hoffberg posted it in February)

I'm off to start working on a chicken, broccoli, and shiitake mushroom stir fry - I want to get some more vegetables in before the day's over!  Have a great night!

P.S. As you may have noticed, this blog is kind of turning into Food for Jennifer.  I'm still figuring it out :)

Crazy Oatmeal

Things I've eaten recently:

Gah!  Terrible picture.  What is it, though?  Oatmeal, egg sriracha (my favorite), nutritional yeast, and sea salt.  It's a little different, but I'm not the first to try it ;) (see here and here).

Post-Pilates lunch = apple + spinach + yesterday chicken and quinoa drizzled with balsamic, lemon juice, and freshly cracked black pepper.

I was so hungry I had to eat something before dinner!

Grits and Greens for dinner

Going to hang out with the hubs for a bit then I'm off to the gym for body pump and/or Zumba (haven't quite decided yet ...).  Pilates class not so great this morning - I think the substitute teacher underestimated us!

Have a great night!