Slow Cooker Frittata

Hi, I'm sharing a new-to-me recipe today.  I knew this was going to be an especially busy weekend, so I went browsing for an easy, but healthy recipe.  This time I wanted to use my slow cooker.

You would think that it would be easy to find something that fit all 3 requirements, wouldn't you?
Easy, healthy and in a slow cooker.  Ummm.  Not so easy.

But, I eventually found this.  Slow Cooker Spinach and Mozzarella Frittata.  Just click the link I provided, to get the recipe.  I made one change to the recipe, by adding 1 jalapeno pepper, diced.

***edited to add:  Another change I made.  I used all whole eggs.

Here's a photo of my finished fritatta.

I thought it might be difficult to remove it from the slow cooker.  But as you can see, I manged to loosen it then slide it out onto a plate.  Oh, in case you're wondering.  It is delicious!

I WILL be making this one again.  Yummmmm.

If you try this recipe, please let me know what you thought of it.  Just leave a comment here on my blog  OR use the "contact me" option in the right hand side bar of my blog.

Enjoy!

Stress, food and our bodies

A couple of months ago I began following a blog written by Min, who is a registered dietician.  Her blog is titled MJ & Hungryman.  I'm learning so much from her blog!  And it's not only info about food.  She also shares information about stress and anxiety, cortisol and gratitude.

That's just a few of the topics that she talks about.  She also share recipes, links to additional information and recommends books.  I've not read any of the books, so I can't personally recommend any of them.  Anyway, she is a wealth of information and I love her writing style.

I'm sharing a few links to some individual posts that have really spoken to me.

Gratitude - A natural way to fight stress and axiety
 
How to reduce cortisol naturally

4 Healthy ways to handle food cravings

All of these post are well worth the few minutes it takes to read them.  Truly useful information that is easy to read.  I hope you'll click through and check out Min's blog.  :)

Christmas Cards already!

Well, since it's July...it must be time to get started on my Christmas cards.  Right???
*********Edited to add*******
Ack!  I can't believe I created and posted my card making post to my personal blog, instead of to my card & crafting blog Procraftinaion.  Wow.  Oh well, I can't un-publish this post.
Hope you like the change of topic!
Here goes.

I know.  Most people don't want to think about anything to do with winter right now.  But, since I send out quite a few Christmas cards I HAVE to start early!

I got my inspiration for all of these cards from several cards designed by Maile Belles.  Her clean and simple, yet elegant style, always manages to inspire me.  Love her cards!
HERE is a link to her blog.
And HERE is a link to the post that inspired my first group set of cards.

These last 2 photos are closeups of some of the cards above.  Maybe you can see a bit better, the card stock layered triangles I added.

Next is a set of cards, all using the same Christmas tree die set and the same sentiment.  I just changed up the placement of the patterned papers on the trees.  I used a combo of score tape and foam tape to layer the sections of the tree, to add some dimension.

These cards were such fun to create!

Thanks so much for taking a look,

Guilty of "busy" again

In my previous post I talked about "busyness".  I also talked how I was working on not pushing myself to be so busy.  Well, that's still a work in progress.  Friday was an extremely busy day for me.  It began with an early morning walk, about 4 miles I think.
I hurried to eat breakfast, got myself ready and headed out to do our shopping.  Lots of stops.   Home around noon and ate a quick (but healthy) lunch.

Then the real work started.  We did a week's worth of laundry.   I did food prep, cooking, etc ALL afternoon.  Yes, I have my breakfast and lunch foods ready for the coming work week.  But.  I was worn out.  Exhausted.

Yup, I did it to myself again.  Pushing myself to "do".  I usually do some of my food prep Friday evening and the remainder on Saturday.  But, I had invited a friend (who is also my cousin) to come over on Saturday to do some stamping (paper crafting...usually greeting cards) with me.  Oh, and I still hadn't done any house cleaning, since nearly every work night last week was "busy".  Guilty again.  :(

Can I not practice what I preach???  Yikes!

Anyway.  On Saturday morning I made the decision that whatever cleaning my hubby and I could get done, would be enough.  Hey, the floors got swept and mopped.  That felt like "good" to me! 
Once I told myself to stop and realize "enough is enough", I relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the day.

While I waited for my stamping buddy Cheryl, I finally sat down and relaxed.  Watched a bit of TV with my hubby.  Browsed some stamping blogs for card ideas.  I was relaxed and ready to create when Cheryl arrived.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.   I had a wonderful time creating and talking....really talking (about lots of stuff) on Saturday.  Those hours of conversation and creating were good for my soul.  I love creating, but I love it even more when I get the chance to spend time creating with a friend (or 3 or 4 when I get the chance!).   I felt so happy, calmed and re-energized.  I'm still smiling now, as I write this post, early Sunday morning.  :)

Do what brings you joy.  Oh, and while you're at it...remind me to do the same.  Often.  Okay?

Later,

Busy is a choice

I'm usually writing about recipes or activities relating to a healthy lifestyle.  The topic of this post was planted in my brain a couple of days ago, during a conversation with my friend Kris.  I was telling her how busy I usually am on Saturdays, doing my meal prep for the coming work week.
I told her that sometimes I feel this sense of resentment that I "have to" spend so much time cooking.

Well, guess who puts the pressure on me to do that meal prep?  Me.  I got to thinking about the pressure I put on myself to do so many things.  Going, doing, joining....always busy, busy, busy.
I catch myself sometimes comparing others lives to mine.  Is my busy more important than yours? Am I busier than you?  Does that make me more important than you?

Those are NOT thoughts that I want in my brain and that is NOT what God wants for me, either.

On a regular basis, I've had to stop and re-evaluate my priorities.  I don't want to be so busy that I can't enjoy life.  So busy that I don't see and enjoy all of the blessings that surround me.  All of the beauty that surrounds me.  So busy that I don't have the time to do the things that bring me joy.

About a year and a half ago, I made the decision to step down from a card challenge design team that I was a member of.  It was something that I enjoyed.  But, since I had adopted a healthy lifestyle, much more of my weekend time was spent on food prep (cooking from scratch, using mostly whole foods) and distance walking.  Something had to "give".  It was actually an easy choice to make.  My priority had to be my health.  I haven't regretted the decision for a minute.

I'm gradually finding ways to pare down the time I spend in the kitchen.  Hey...I finally bought a food processor!  My husband had given me the nickname Chopper, because I spent SO much time chopping vegetables.  Oh my goodness.  That Cuisinart is awesome!  Why did it not occur to me to buy one a year and a half ago?

Ok, back to the subject of busy.   I've read two articles recently that talk about this subject and those writers say it all, much better than I can.
Taming The Busyness of Life
Everyone is Busier Than You
I'm sure I'm not the only one who can relate to this subject.  If any of this relates to you, I hope you'll read these articles.  They're so well written and both gave me a lot to think about.

I don't want to be so busy that I get to the point that I'm don't have joy in my life.  So busy that I'm not creating joy in my life and joy in the life of others.  I need to stop, be still and find joy.
I have to make time for the really important things in my life.  I (and you) don't have to "do it all".

Just one more graphic; this one really spoke to me.  Exactly when I needed to hear it.

Find joy!

Are you ready to race?

Have you been fitness walking, speed walking or running for a while now?  Been hearing a few of your friends talk about doing races?  Are you considering signing up for a race?

I know.  That's a lot of questions.

If you've been considering participating in a race, I strongly urge you to...do it!  The feeling I get when I cross the finish line is such a "high" for me.  What a sense of accomplishment.  I did it!  I finished!  I gotta tell you, racing can be habit forming.

You can make it as competitive as you want.  Or you can do it to compete only with yourself.  Whichever you choose, it can be such a confidence builder.  Oh...and don't think that you have to be in top physical shape to participate in a race.  You'll see that people of all ages, fitness levels and body types do these races.

I've said it before...I'll probably never win a medal for 1st, 2nd or even 3rd place.  That's okay with me, since I love competing with me.  Working at shaving a minute or so off my previous minutes per mile.  Heck, maybe even a few seconds.

All this being said, my most recent race was last Saturday.  I have to say, this one was different than any of the others I've done.  It was The Biggest Loser Run/Walk Race 2015.  These races are held in many cities across the USA.  The one I walked was in Rockford, IL.  HERE is a link to the BL website.
The other races I've done were pretty low-key compared to this one.  Packet pick-up (your race day bib, t-shirt and various other goodies) was the evening before.  But in addition to our packets, there were merchandise booths and various speakers.  I'm always excited about an upcoming race, but this bumped up that excitement even more.

I got to the race venue quite early the next morning, since I know that this part of downtown Rockford has limited parking.  Quite a few parking lots and garages but they would fill up quickly for an event like this.  By the way, there were 921 runners/walkers in this race.  Wow.

Several of the Biggest Loser show contestants and a trainer spoke before the race and then as the start time neared, they moved to the stage near the starting line.  Lots of encouragement and lots of humor, made for a very motivating start to the race!

Later, as we neared the finish line, I could see that Sonya Jones was there cheering on each and every one of us as we finished.  That was so cool!  Especially considering that I have never even watched The Biggest Loser TV show.  I had to do a bit of research on line to see who these people were. :)

It was just such a positive, uplifting experience.  As I said, other races I've done are not as "hyped" as this race series.  BUT each and every one of them has been a great experience for me.  I'm ready for another one.  Oh yeah.

The Biggest Loser Race website uploaded the photos from Saturday's race today.  I keyed in my race bib number to look for my photos.  Well, there are 7 or 8 of them.  But...in most of them I had a very stern (or maybe even a grimaced) expression on my face.  Ugh!  In two photos my eyes were closed.  Geesh!
I finally found two that aren't too bad.  These are both at the finish line...and I finally smiled!

I finished in about the same time as the race I walked a couple of weeks ago.  I was pleased with that, because it was an improvement from my race times last year.  This race included a couple pretty steep hills (or maybe they just seemed steep!), so those slowed me down for a while.

So, have I talked you into signing up for a 5k?  Maybe?   Talk a friend into signing up with you and it's even more fun.  You can find races in your area by doing a google search for races by state.  I'm just sayin'.  :)

Later,

Racing....who, me?

Hey, all of those years during junior high & high school...I dreaded PE (physical education) classes.  Not just because I was NOT athletic, but because I was overweight, too.  Yeah, those two things made any kind of sports difficult.  Along with that I was SO self conscious about the way I looked when I tried to participate in any sports.  All of those issues, along with low self esteem and being extremely introverted made PE not a fun place to be.

I am not looking for sympathy, at all.  That was simply who I was at that time in my life.  That person is so different from who I am now.  So different!  During those years after high school I began to break out of that "shell", thank goodness.  Gradually I became much more social and outgoing, made more friends and eventually met the wonderful man who is now my husband.  He has told me many times that when we first met, he could hardly get me to talk...but now I won't shut up!  I take that as a compliment!!!

All of this is leading up to (or back to) my weight.  About 6 months before I met my husband I finally decided it was time to lose weight.  I succeeded, but didn't do it the right way.  It was "dieting".  Just a way to get to my goal weight.  I didn't exercise.  I didn't think of it as changing my lifestyle, at all.
So.  Guess what happened?  That's right, I gradually regained the weight.

I repeated that process a few more times over the years.  Again, I didn't make changes for my "lifetime"  It was just dieting.  I've come to dislike that word.  Diet.

In 2013 I finally made the decision to make permanent changes to the way I eat and my activity level.  Major changes!   If you've just now started reading my blog, you can follow THIS LINK to read more about how and why I started.

Well, by now you're probably wondering if I'll ever get to the title of this post.  Racing.
It all goes back to the first few sentences of this post.  PE class.  Sports.  Physical activity.

If anyone had told me, all of those years ago, that I would now be participating in races...well I would have told them they were crazy.  Me?  Race?  Voluntarily, even!

Oh my, how my life has changed...in so many ways.  I am SO active now and I have been active since August of 2013.  You know what?  I now LOVE being active!    If you're one of my Facebook friends you also know that I like competing with myself, too.  Doing more steps and increasing the distance I walk, whenever I can.  Especially when I can walk outdoors.  Fresh air and sunshine.

But the point that I really want to make, is that I don't do these 5k races in the hopes of winning.  I know that I won't ever win a medal.  That's just fine with me.  I do it for a few reasons.
1. Being a part of that crowd of participants, all working toward that finish line.
2. The activity of speed walking is fun.
3. Trying my best to improve my time (minutes per mile).
4. The fun of doing a race with a friend or relative, even though we get separated during the race.
5. Seeing if I can pass a few other walkers along the way (I will admit that I like that!).
6  And, best of all....CROSSING THE FINISH LINE!

I did a 5k race today and I'm already looking forward to the next one.  Just 2 weeks away!

I hope that I am able to continue to walk 5k races (maybe a 10k occasionally) for many years to come.  Being active makes me feel so good.  Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too.

Who knew, all those years ago, that I could and would make so many changes to my life?
What kind of changes have you made, that have surprised you?  Or, what kind of changes are you contemplating?   Anything is possible, you know.
Later,