After the Sugar Landslide.... a 10-Day Challenge

As my spring break comes to a close, it's been a fun weekend of seeing friends and hanging out with the family. Yesterday, I kicked off the weekend by running in the Rumpshaker 5K.

This is my friend Tracie and I before the race.  I've had a knee injury for about a year, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to run it or have to walk it. We only walked twice for just a few minutes each time, so we ended up doing the 5K in 32:52. Woop! 

The weather was perfect, and of course I overdressed, just like I did for the horse trail run.

This is two of my friends after the race, Melita and Susan. We all went to high school together. I think we're doing pretty good to be running races 25+ years after we graduated! 

The Rumpshaker 5K was a great way to kick off a healthy April. As March comes to a close, we celebrate Easter, and the Easter holiday is filled with traditions of candy-filled baskets, chocolate bunnies, and wonderful desserts...

So enjoy the sugar landslide today, but join me tomorrow, April 1, for a 10-day challenge of no sugar. This is no April Fool's joke!

Here's the 10-day challenge...

 1) Exercise each day (participants' choice)     
 2) Journal all food and drink     
 3) Eliminate added sugar**    
 4) Eat a green vegetable each day     
 5) Let me know what the green veggie and exercise is each day (via email, text, Facebook, etc) as part of accountability

**For the "added sugar" part, I tell participants to take baby steps. "Added sugar" means stay away from pastries, desserts, pies, cakes, candy, etc. 

Source: catchmyparty.com via Berenika on Pinterest

I also suggest a "Pantry Rehab."

Pantry Rehab

1. Go through all canned, boxed, bottled foods/spices/dressings... check expiration date. Throw away is expired!

2. Check all foods, including soups and broths for MSG (monosodium glutamate). Throw or give away if you find it!

3. Check for products with SUGAR listed as one of the first 3 ingredients. Don't eat it! Throw or give away, or when it is gone, replace it with a healthier choice.

4. Check product labels for high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Throw or give away, or when it is gone, replace it with a healthier choice.

5. Survey your whole/raw foods. (Foods that walk, crawl, swim, or otherwise are found in their natural state as they have grown from the ground.) Stock up on fresh, raw, organic, unprocessed, gluten-free, HFCS-free, and sugar-free.

Source: catchmyparty.com via Berenika on Pinterest

If you decide to participate in the 10-day challenge, shoot me an email. I'd love to hear your story!

Wishing You a Happy Easter!

Wishing you all a Happy Easter!

My Spring/Easter mantel...

complete with the flowers for my parents...

(I wanted to include my vintage Easter find, but my printer is out of ink! Oh well!)

A reminder of why this holiday is so wonderful...

Love and blessings to you all...

Looking Forward and Back to April (1968)

I've reacquainted myself with Pinterest this week while on Spring Break.... there are so many creative people doing so many creative things!

(I went looking for Easter wreaths to replace the ugly one on my door, then I got sidetracked by recipes, Dollar Tree projects, and home tours.) 

Since Easter is just a few days away, I decided to keep my Easter wreath and look ahead to April. What kind of wreath will I do for next month? I need something Spring-y that will take me through the month. Since Hubs and I both have birthdays in April,  I think I may do a birthday wreath for us!

As I was getting more and more sidetracked by Pinterest, I decided to type in April 1968 -- the year I was born. 

I found some amazing pictures from Vogue that I think I'm going to print and hang somewhere in the house. I'll share these in a future post. 

But today, I want to share the cutest Easter print from 1968....

Source: art.com via Jack and Jill on Pinterest

Isn't that adorable?! I think I'm going to print it and put it on my mantle to enjoy for these last few days before Easter.

Thank you, Pinterest!

The Best Bacon, Spinach, and Pesto Frittata

I fell in love with pesto last summer. 

I traveled to St. Louis last summer for a conference for work. It was almost 100 degrees outside, so I opted for the hotel restaurant for lunch. Wanting something light, I chose the tomato soup with basil pesto. 

I had never had pesto before, and this was not my mama's tomato soup! I actually had it again for dinner the next night, came home and purchased some at the store. It is now a staple in my fridge, and I'm always looking for ways to incorporate it into a recipe.

The brand I use is Classico.

Today, I decided to try it in a frittata.

Here's my recipe that I made up as I went along.

3 pieces of bacon

1 package frozen chopped spinach

6 eggs

1 T pesto

cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to broil.

In bowl, whisk together 6 eggs, salt and pepper. Set aside.

I cooked the bacon in my iron skillet and drained the grease. While that was cooking I defrosted the spinach in the microwave. 

Once the bacon cooked, I used kitchen shears to cut it /break it up into smaller pieces. 

Then I put the spinach in the iron skillet and kind of smeared it around, then I put the pesto on top and kind of smeared that around, too. 

Next, I added the eggs on top and let it cook for about 5 minutes. 

After 5 minutes, I sprinkled shredded cheddar on top, sprinkled on a little more pepper and popped it in the oven for about 5 minutes.

Yum!

Do you have a favorite frittata recipe? Or iron skillet recipe? I'd love to hear about them in the comments.

I'm sharing at

    

Don't Forget the BREAK in Spring Break

Me at the start of spring break. Ever feel like this?

Ahhhh.... Spring Break. 

Wonderful words for any educator. 

My daughters' Spring Break holidays were last week, and my school's holiday is this week. So.... that means that I will work the first two days of the week (12-month employees are scheduled to work), and the last 3 days I will be off while my kids are in school.

Shamelessly, I'm really excited to be off when they're in school. Of course, if you know me, I've got a loooooong to-do list of things I want to get done this week. They are all projects around the house... like framing the mirrors in the two guest bathrooms, putting up beadboard in the laundry space, choosing and purchasing new garage doors, painting the trim in the upstairs hallway...

There are also other projects on my to-do list that are a little more fun:

• Re-do my yucky Easter wreath for the front door (It's so ugly I won't even show a picture of it!)
• Make a DIY Raffia Bowl
• Use my Silhouette Cameo 
• Make a chalkboard mirror for my sister

But, even with all of these plans, I'm reminded to take a BREAK. Let my mind wander and ponder. Breathe slowly and pay attention to it. Watch a silly movie. Stay up late. Laugh with my girls and Hubs. Get a mani and pedi. Eat breakfast slowly. Blog. 

I want to be restored and refreshed by the end of the week.

 

Cheers!