rock 'n' roll

I have made a recent decision to run in San Diego's Rock and Roll Marathon on June 5th, 2011 (I however will be doing the 1/2 marathon, lets not kid ourselves here!) Between my training for the half-marathon and recently starting doing some P90x videos I am hoping to get more fit and trim throughout my training process. Yesterday was my first day to be able to complete every exercise on one of the P90x videos, something that was very fulfilling and motivating. I have never been a big runner and although I've had many friends run marathons, I have always said I would NEVER do a marathon and really never had any interest in a half-marathon either. I'm not sure what happened that I have all of the sudden decided this is something that I want to conquer but it is. For me having a date set to accomplish something I think will help me have motivation to exercise and train and accomplish my overall goal to get healthier, more fit and lose weight. That being said I'm sure that I will have ups and downs throughout this process but I am now ready to face them. My dad has also made a goal to lose weight and despite the fact that he already works out at a gym he is not much of a runner and has made the goal to do the half-marathon with me in June! It will be nice to have the support of another non-runner to share training advice with and increase motivation. In the coming months leading up to the half-marathon I will be sharing my ups and downs of this process on my blog... so stay tuned!

homemade bread

The smell of fresh, homemade bread coming out of the oven is one of those heavenly scents that conjures up a cozy, warm, homey feeling. I have longed wanted a bread maker and have always said it will be the first thing on my wedding registry, and although I still do not have one I did not let that stop me from making some homemade multi-grain bread loaves courtesy of Martha Stewart. This recipe makes 2 loaves of dense bread that is perfect for slicing and pairing with your favorite jam or with your favorite sandwich toppings.

Multi-grain Bread

2 pkg (1/4-ounce envelopes) active dry yeast

2 1/4 cups warm water

3 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons honey

4 Tablespoons unsalted melted butter, plus more for bowl and pans

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup rye flour

1/3 cup toasted bran (I found mine at Trader Joe's)

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup ground or whole flaxseeds

egg wash-egg white whisked together with water

2 Tablespoons coarse salt

1. Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup warm water. Add 2 teaspoons honey. Whisk until yeast dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle or dough-hook attachment. Add butter and remaining 1 3/4 cup water and 3 Tablespoons honey. In a separate bowl, whisk all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and rye flour together with salt. Add 3 cups of flour mixture to yeast mixture. Mix on low speed until smooth, do not over mix. In another bowl, mix oats, flaxseeds and bran together. Add this mixture to the mixing bowl. Add remaining 4 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing until dough comes away from sides of bowl and forms a ragged, slightly sticky ball. Butter a large bowl.

2. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic but still slightly tacky about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball. Transfer to prepared bowl; cover with plastic wrap and a towel and place in a warm area.

3. Let dough stand in warm place until it doubles in volume (it should not spring back when pressed), about 1 hour. Butter two 4 1/2 by 8 1/2 inch loaf pans. Punch down dough; divide in half.

4. Shape 1 dough half into an 8 1/2 inch long rectangle (about 1/2 inch thick). Fold long sides of dough in to middle, overlapping slightly. Press seam to seal. Transfer dough, seam side down, to pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Brush tops of loaves with egg wash, then sprinkle with oats. Dab tops with egg wash to help adhere. Preheat oven to 450 deg F. Drape loaves with plastic. Let stand until dough rises about 1 inch above tops of pans, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Reduce oven temperature to 400 deg. Bake, rotating pans after 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer to wire racks. Let cool slightly; turn out loaves. Let cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!

crock pot chicken tacos

I was introduced to this easy recipe when I used to babysit for a family with 4 kids, this was an easy to make and easy to please meal to make for us! I recently found a 3 quart sized crock pot at Target on sale for $15, I grabbed it and my first meal I made was crock pot chicken tacos.

To start place as much chicken as you want for your family, or for extras (stores well in refrigerator for a few days), in your crock pot. I used 2 chicken breasts which made 5 servings of 2 tacos.

Pour any kind of salsa over the chicken making sure to cover all the chicken. I used Trader Joe's Chunky Salsa, really anything will work though. For the 2 chicken breasts I needed one whole jar, so you will need more than one jar if using more chicken.

Here it is before cooked with chicken covered in salsa. Set crock pot on low if you want it to cook all day or use high if you will be ready to eat in 3-4 hours.



Here is what is in the crock pot when it is ready to shred, you can see the salsa has reduced and the chicken is cooked.

Using a fork pierce the chicken and use a turn of your wrist to "shred" the chicken. Repeat until all the chicken is shredded and mixed evenly.

Here is the shredded chicken ready to go into a taco or burrito.

I used a warmed corn tortilla, placed some of the crock pot chicken  with tomato and avocado slices on top.

Get creative with it...there are so many possibilities! ENJOY!

the happiest place on earth

Back in October, I traveled to see my Nana and Papa and some of the extended family for a weekend of togetherness. This weekend was planned prior to Papa having his third stoke leaving him hospitalized, so it was a good time to get family together, see Papa, and take care of and keep Nana distracted. Most of us cousins all grew up in Southern California we were used to summer trips to Disneyland together and having 'Camp Nana'. 'Camp Nana' was when my sisters and cousins and I all spend the week at Nana and Papa's house selling lemonaid and found golf balls to the golfers, sleeping on the living room floor, having fashion shows, eating Italian food, going to the Family Fun Center to play mini golf and ride rides and playing many hands of cards; this weekend reminded us of all those fun memories and gave us a taste of the past as now we are all adults sleeping on the floor, playing cards, having big family meals, and going to Disneyland of course!

The Whole Gang

There were a total of 15 of us, that headed to Disneyland on a Saturday with what seemed like the rest of Southern California. We had 2 wheelchairs, one for Nana, and one for a cousin with a hurt knee, and then a stroller for my cousins 5 month old, talk about quite the parade we had.

Taking the tram into the parks, Janessa, Me, Kale, Emmalyn, Brianne, Cooper.

Nana & I on the Marc Twain Steamboat

We had a great day of nostaligia riding our favorite rides, watching the magical fireworks and being together as a big family that we are.

Sister Molly and I at the Bugs Life 3-D Show

Sister Molly & I

Nana came in the afternoon with my aunt and it was really special to have her with us at Disneyland, I think she enjoyed being there with most of her grandchildren as well, I sure had a great day!

adventure to Julian

I have long been wanting to go apple picking and exploring in a town called Julian so I recruited Pati and baby Isaiah to come along and we went on a cold, blustery day earlier this month. The drive was very beautiful driving on windy roads leading up to what seem like nowhere, that is until we got to Julian a very small town established during the gold rush. We first stopped off at Raven Hill Orchard to go apple picking, slightly different from my other apple picking experiences in that the apples were mostly picked or had falled on the ground and they were a small variety of apple. The good news was the apples were sweet and juicy!

Pati with bundled Isaiah

Poor Isaiah's nose got quite cold and red so we left and ventured into "downtown" Julian to find something warm to drink. We talked through the one town street and found the Julian Pie Company were Pati and I enjoyed a slice of apple pie and hot apple cider.

Downtown Julian



Warming up at the Pie Co.



Happy Baby!

Tis' the Season

As Thanksgiving will soon be here then gone and I am getting very excited for the prospect of decorating for Christmas being just around the corner. This season I have some projects that I'm looking forward to completing and sharing with you, here are the one's I've already started planning:

- Homemade Christmas Cards
- A Christmas Banner
- Paper Embellished Foam Cone Christmas Trees
- Decorate Sugar Cookies
- Make Homemade Carmel
- Making an Advent Calender
- Make a Gingerbread House
- Make Homemade Marshmallow and enjoy with Hot Chocolate

Some other Christmas activities that I'm looking forward to this year are:

- Going ice skating at the Hotel Del Coronado
- Watching Christmas Vacation, Elf, and Love Actually (just a few of my favorite Christmas movies!)
- Listening to Christmas music while decorating my Christmas tree
- Reading the Polar Express, my favorite childhood Christmas book

- Driving around my home town looking at Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music

- Watching Christmas Classics (or just old time goodies) that randomly show on TV

- Hoping to have a Christmas cookie exchange party

What specific things do you all enjoy during the holidays? I would love new ideas to add to my list!

family love

This past weekend I had the pleasure to host my parents visit to San Diego. They arrived Friday mid-morning and our first stop was no other than the famous Hash House restruant for brunch where Pati and baby Isaiah joined us. My mom had fun oooing, ahhing and playing with the well mannered, smily baby. After stuffing our faces we needed to get a little exercise so we headed up to La Jolla for some kayaking. The kayak tour took us to see leapord sharks about 4-6 feet long (with no teeth, thank goodness), Dr. Susses house, the Seven caves, seal lions and the kelp forest. We had lots of fun learning about the history of La Jolla and kayaking around on such a beautiful day (85 deg in November!). After cleaning up we headed to Del Mar to watch the scenery, have a drink and then get dinner at another one of my favorites, Jakes. From there we watched the most beautiful sunset and had a fabulous dinner.

Saturday we woke up early and decided to hike Cowles Mountain.

It was a very popular spot on another one of these rare November goregous days! From the top we could see Mexico, Coronado Island, downtown San Diego, Point Loma and much more; it was a beautiful 360 deg view of San Diego!

Looking toward downtown San Diego

Mom and Dad at the very tip top, 360 deg view

Mom and I at the top!

Dad and I at the top!

After showering we headed to Coronado Island were we walked the "boardwalk" along the beach on the west end leading up to the Hotel Del Coronado.

Picture of beach side of Hotel Del Coronado (from a previous visit)

View of beach looking toward Point Loma (from a previous visit)

There we shopped, explored and had lunch. We explored a little more of the islands history at the Coronado museum and some then the "downtown" area and then oooed and ahhed over some of the beautiful homes on the island. Quite exahausted after a packed weekend we stayed home to watch the Arizona vs Stanford football game, which didn't end in my favor :(

Sunday morning we took my Balboa park loop walk and then went to the Hillcrest farmer's market for a crepe. Soon after that it was time for me to take my parents to the airport. I was so happy to have them visit and thankful for all we got to do while they were in town and the beautiful weather we had!