We had family dinner on Friday night and afterwards we headed back home where I ended up falling asleep early. Saturday morning I followed my usual routine and headed to Weight Watchers after I woke up. The woman who weighed me gave me a smile and said “You are so close I know you will reach this next week.” I looked at my weight record and realized I was 0.2 away from a 30 pound loss. I joked with her and asked if I could run to the bathroom and then hop on the scale again. But alas, I am hoping to knock that 0.2 off next week.

Then I ran to meet my school gals at Barnes and Noble to listen to an author and discussion on childhood bullying. I highly suggest you check out Jonathan Friesen’s website. He is truly inspiring and everyone could learn something from him.

After that I headed to People’s Organic for a quick brunch. (really yummy biscuits)

I ran around the Galleria for a bit and then headed over to Rojo to meet a friend for lunch. Another great restaurant and they have great sangria!

When I got home I decided to take my mom’s Chex mix/ Party Mix and tweak it.

Here’s what I came up with:

Preheat oven to 300
Take a stick of salted butter and put it in a large casserole dish. Stick it in the oven and leave it there till it has melted. Once it melts pull the dish out of the oven and add 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract and a 1/2 cup of cinnamon sugar. Mix all of this really well and then add 1/2 a box of Rice Chex, 1/2 a box of Captain Crunch, 1/2 a bag of pretzels, and half a box of Honey Teddy Grahams. Stir carefully and try to not have everything end up on the floor. Place in the oven for 20 minutes. Pull out and dump in another bowl and stir around then put it back in the oven for 20 minutes. Do this one more time ( i hope this makes sense…. Three 20 minute increments) and then turn the oven off and let the Chex Mix cool in the oven.1 to 2 hours later pull the Chex Mix out of the oven and mix in some mini marshmallows (I did 1/2 a bag). Serve ina cute bowl and enjoy!

Last night we went to Acme with friends. We had a great dinner and got to see Natasha Leggero (judge from Last Comic Standing) perform. What a great deal- dinner and the comedy show for $30!

I could keep typing but I think it best to end and I will update you more this coming wek.

Keep Smiling and Stay warm Minnesotans!

Erica

1. Fiber Full Fruit Leather- These are from Trader Joes. They are great to throw in your bag and have on hand for a snack. Plus they are only 1 point!

2. Angie’s Kettle Corn- A great snack to have on hand for when you are having a sweet craving. A serving is 2 1/2 cups and it’s just 3 points.

3. Fiber One Blueberry Muffins- I eat these muffins for breakfast three times a week. A box makes 12 muffins which I could never finish in a week. I end up wrapping each muffin in foil and putting them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. I bring them to school with me and eat them while my kids are having snack. One muffin is 3 points.

4. Triscuit Minis- I love crackers But I find that serving sizes never satisfy my craving. A serving of these minis is 28 crackers. If I pair this with a laughing cow wedge it’s a perfect snack or part of my lunch. A serving is 3 points.

5. Quaker Chewy Dipps Peanut Butter- I have a massive sweet tooth. I was very happy when I found these granola bars. I think they taste like a candy bar. One bar is 4 points.

What’s in your pantry?

1. Pinterest- what an obsession….I have created so many boards and have found so many great recipes and ideas for school!

2. Biggest Loser- I know it’s not realistic to drop more than three pounds in a week. What I love…. The inspirational stories and the great inspirational quotes I get out of it.

3. Skinny Taste- I cannot wait to start making recipes from this site! Everything looks so yummy! Plus she has done the hard work and figured out how many weight watcher points everything is. What recipe should I try first? ( sooo….. many great choices)

4.I Got This- The title to Jennifer Hudson’s new book! It comes out tomorrow! I am so excited to start reading this! She has gone through some tough times and has shown how determination, drive, and staying positive can help you climb to the top.

Here is a picture of me in July 2011.

As I began 2011 I made the same resolutions as every year before: find a new job, get healthy, and get to know the Twin Cities better. When I rang in 2010 and made these resolutions I did not realize that the year would go by and how little I would accomplish. As 2011 ends I am smiling because I have made some major changes in my life and am proud of where I am heading. The blog is an outlet for me to share, but I have kept one part hidden for a couple of months(my health). When I turned 27 in August I made a birthday resolution to hit the gym, eat healthier, and join Weight Watchers. Five months have passed and now I am 2 pounds away from a 30 pound loss. I am sharing this with you to challenge all of you to go for those resolutions whether be health related , job related, etc.

I’m sure you all read that I found a new job in September this year. I teach a 4 and 5 year old class. I enjoy my work and love the amazing gals that I work with. I am so much happier and enjoy seeing the progress my students are making.

As for exploring the Twin Cities… Every day I feel I I learn something new. I am relying less and less on the Tom Tom. I still ask for help from Justin GPS ( my husband) but who doesn’t call someone when they feel they are heading to Timbuktu instead of Target.

Not the best picture but… Here I am today!

I recently heard a quote and it continues to stay with me (can’t remember where this was from) do not stand on the sidelines of your life. Take charge and make things happen!

Happy New Year!
Erica

I adore Pinterest! I think if I let myself I could spend all day on the site. If you haven’t heard of Pinterest let me tell you about it. It is an online pinboard that lets you create boards that interest you. You pin things that other people have pinned on the site. It feels a bit like Show and Share in my preschool classroom. When I see something I like I can pin it to a board to remember it. My two boards that I pin to daily are Recipes and School Ideas. This weekend I decided to tackle my recipe board.

1. Nutella Puppy Chow- AMAZING! I ended up convincing a friend to make this with me on Saturday morning. We shared it with our friends after our Christmas Eve dinner of Chinese food.

2. Cinnamon Toast Crunch Rice Krispy Treats- two great combinations! Who doesn’t love rice krispy treats + Cinnamon Toast Crunch? This was an easy recipe that you could truly tailor to your choice of favorite cereal.

3. Rainbow Pinwheel Cookies- this was my only recipe that I feel I did not accomplish. It could not be easier to make. ( one box cookie mix, food coloring, and sprinkles) I made the cookies and then divided the dough up into bowls so I could tint it. After tinting I followed the directions and grabbed some dough from each bowl and made the multi colored balls. Then I had trouble.. I could not get the dough to roll into a snake. I might try this recipe again but with homemade sugar cookie dough and not a boxed mix.

Also I couldn’t end this post by not showing off the cutest picture taken this weekend. Leo went for a haircut this weekend at Bubbly Paws. When I picked him up they had attached this handsome Bowtie to his collar.

My weekend could be summed up as successful.

2 batches of party mix
1 batch of chocolate peanut butter balls
1 batch chocolate peppermint fudge ( I tweaked this recipe and used chocolate chips and instead of vanilla extract I used peppermint extract.) Justin said this was a keeper!

I also managed to make dinner tonight

Here are some snaps from the week!

Thanks Anna for telling me to check out Athleta. It is such a cute store. I found a great pair of yoga pants that I am having shipped to me because their petite department isn’t available until January.

How was your weekend?

What is your favorite cookie?

I had such a blast making cookies and exchanging them that I got to thinking…

I would like to do a mini cupcake exchange maybe in February around Valentine’s Day.

One of my favorite things I did this weekend was make these S’more bars! I’m giving you a link to a blog because I followed her recipe to a t! I know I tell y’all to make the recipes but seriously make this one like….NOW! They taste exactly like a s’more which is great for when you lack a fireplace and it looks like a winter wonderland outside.

I had to change the tree for winter!

How was your weekend?

My mom set up 6 tables for her desserts. She started making all of these delicious delicacies at the beginning of October and covered them in quite a lot of foil and placed them in the freezer. I don’t know how the woman does it but she makes sure to have the old favorites ( party cheesecakes, pecan pie, pistachio cake, and chocolate casserole) and some newbies (malted milk ball cake, butterfinger pie, and gosh knows I’m forgetting some). I love how she makes labels for all these desserts out of name tags and Popsicle sticks. Unfortunately I was not there to help her come up with creative names for the desserts this year. (next year… I will be there to fix this) At the end of the post you can see the pictures. If you count in the pictures you will get 44 desserts. I realized after I did this that one of the trays has 3 desserts on it so that makes it 46.

Mom, I love you but am begging you… Next year I think the dessert theme should be like the top 10 desserts.

What do y’all think?

What would be on your top ten dessert list?

As I sit above the clouds on a flight back to Minne all I can think about is how much fun we had this Thanksgiving! My parents did an incredible job and not only was the food yummy but the centerpieces were gorgeous too. Before we got to the airport this morning I asked my mom what she was going to do today and she told me absolutely nothing. After y’all see these pictures I think you’ll agree with me that she has earned a day to simply relax.

How was your Thanksgiving?

PS- tomorrow I will post the dessert spread