Live from Virginia...

Hey All, well, I made it to Virginia. It was an awesome, yet long, drive out here, the awesome part mainly thanks to this lady:


Ben's cousin Annie. She lives in Minneapolis and more than being my husband's cousin, she's a great friend. I'm going to miss her and her adorable daughters so much, but she was kind enough to WANT to drive out to DC with me. We had many hilarious and fun times along the way, but we were both happy in Pennsylvania when we saw this, and knew we were in the home stretch.


We arrived on a Saturday night after spending the night before in Ohio. We stayed in a TINY town in Ohio, where this was the view outside our Holiday Inn Express room window:


Yup, corn fields, as far as the eye can see. I grew up in the Midwest, I've seen farm land, but this was masses of it like I've never seen before. It was actually kind of creepy when we pulled up to the hotel the night before and the perimeter of it was lined with dark, empty corn fields.

Upon arriving in Virgina, we enjoyed a delicious meal by our hotel, and then were off to bed. We were both craving a good, REAL meal (IE not just car munching) and nice night's sleep after a long day of driving. Sunday, we went into explore DC with our friend Kristin who lives in the area before Annie flew back that night. It was a whirlwind three days of driving, arriving, touring, and before I knew it, Annie was gone! It was then that I started to realize, I'm not on a trip, this is my home now!

I've been living in the same hotel Annie and I arrived at for the past two weeks now. I'm getting to the point where I'm ready to get into a real home, have a real kitchen, and ready for Ben and Cooper to get here. I'm lucky that I have friends close though who have let me do laundry and make meals at their places though.

Work has been so super busy though, that I am thankful I've had this time to acclimate on my own, because I come home most nights from work, get in a workout, grab dinner and collapse into sleep quite early.

I've been trying to take advantage of certain parts of hotel living as well. The gym on site, a maid making my bed, a great lap pool and hot tub, Free HBO, being within walking distance of great shops and restaurants, etc.

This coming weekend, Ben and Cooper arrive, and I cannot WAIT!! I'm out of the hotel Sunday, the day they arrive, and I'm hoping our things will be here in the next few days from the movers as well for our apartment that I now have keys to. Before my boys arrive, I'll be spending a lot of this weekend setting up my closet, doing laundry and such in the apartment.

I have many more updates to tell you all, but I'll cut it off here. Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!

Quinoa!

Six months ago, Quinoa was a foreign word to me, let alone knowing it was a food, now I'm soooo in love with it!

It's a delicious, Gluten Free, high fiber, clean food, that then obviously goes well with my clean eating.

Quinoa Nutrition Facts
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If you've never heard of it, Quinoa starts off looking like little oatmeal flakes...

Dry Quinoa
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and then after boiling it with some hot water... and, POOF! It's huge, fluffy and tasty!

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I've been making some Quinoa salads lately, including these two from Oh She Glows and Eat, Live, Run.

The Live, Eat Run, Quinoa Salad, Based on personal preference I cut out the peppers and used Oranges instead of grapefruit

Iowa Girl Eats also just published this easy looking one. Based on these recipes, you can see that Quinoa can be used with vegetables, with fruit as a dessert, or as a dinner side; it's pretty versatile.

Quinoa is cheap, can be bought it bulk and easy to make, so if you haven't, give it a try!

Do you have a favorite way to use Quinoa? What about any new recipes you've tried lately?

Clean Eating

Celiac Disease has thrown my healthiness pattern into a spiral like I never thought it would. I thought once I received my diagnosis, life would be on it's merry way, and things would be easy, not so much.

Having always been at a pretty steady weight (if you remember, my weight gain was the reason I went in to be tested for Celiac in the first place), my weight is now a yo yo of 5-10 pounds depending on the day. It's SO frustrating. Pants that fit perfect last week, now are painful to wear this weekend. Dresses that I bought because I like how they hugged my curves, then hang off of me the next time I try to wear them.

I've been reading a lot about people who have suffered similar symptoms post diagnosis. First, they'll lose some weight from the lack of bloating due to cutting gluten out of their diet, but then keep putting on weight, or not able to lose at all. Most studies attribute this to:

1. Newly diagnosed Celiacs eating larger portions, because they were acustomed to eating large portions prior to diagnosis to stay full since they weren't absorbing all the nutrients and were thus, malnourished.
2. Increase sugars and fats that are put in Gluten Free "substitute foods" to create flavor

Both seemed to make sense for me, so this week, I've decided to try and make a conscious effort to "eat clean." I always feel like I'm trying to do this anyway, eating things that are naturally Gluten Free, not manufactured this way, like lean meats, fruits, vegetables, etc. But, I do tend to grab Gluten Free frozen meals, snack bars, etc. when I'm in a hurry. I mean, think about it, should I eat that half a Protein Luna Bar before a run, or an apple? No, Luna Bars aren't bad for you, but isn't an apple a better, less caloric, choice?

So, with the guidance from Mary at Fit This Girl's clean eating (I don't intend to go for her results, just using her as a good guide), I'm going for it!

For instance, today's "clean" lunch:

Grilled Chicken Breast, Homemade Baked Sweet Potato Fries and Homemade Guacamole

I also made these frozen treats last night that chef Katie Lee published recently where you mix plain, 0% Greek yogurt, a few squirts of honey and fresh cherries and freeze them in a few containers for an after dinner sweet snack.

Fresh sliced cherries, 0% Plain Greek Yogurt and Honey

This eating does take planning ahead, but I look forward to it, and how much more in control of my body I feel when I do eat this way. I know it will be difficult in the coming weeks as I move, but this whole initiative will help me be more conscious about what I'm putting in my mouth, and that it needs to be for my body's ultimate nourishment, not just to get full.

Gluten Free, Blueberry, Cottage Cheese Pancakes

I've been tweeting about this little recipe like crazy lately, Gluten Free, Blueberry, Cottage Cheese Pancakes. My friends made them for me when I stayed with them in DC a few weeks back, and they were a hit. Easy, delicious and with extra protein, so I figured, why not try them with my own spin!

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 Cup Gluten Free Pancake Mix (I used Bisquick)
1 Large Full Egg and 1 Egg White
1 tbsp, plus 1 tsp of Canola Oil
8 ounces of 1% Cottage Cheese
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Vanilla
3/4 Cup Fresh Blueberries

**I'm sure these can easily be made with regular, non-Gluten Free pancake mix as well.

Now here is the most important step, you must put all these ingredients (excluding the blueberries) in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Simply whisking or stirring will not break down the curds from the cottage cheese.

Then, place the batter, in however large you want them spoonfuls in a hot pan or griddle, and immediately plop the amount of desired blueberries on the still batterful pancakes.

The finished pancake should look something like this:

It may not be the prettiest thing, but man they are delicious! And you can store leftover batter in the fridge to use the next morning if you want. I've found it's good for about 24 hours, so you can even make it the night before ahead of time if you want.

Here are the nutrition facts for one pancake, should you make four servings out of the above stated ingredients, according to Spark Recipes:

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
4 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		170.6
Total Fat		6.6 g
	Saturated Fat	1.1 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.6 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	3.4 g
Cholesterol		48.5 mg
Sodium		538.7 mg
Potassium		91.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate		16.4 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.1 g
	Sugars	4.0 g
Protein		10.4 g

Enjoy!!

The one where I tell you I'm moving to Virginia...

I've written this post over and over again in my head over the last two weeks or so since I found out. I've thought, "what if my close friends find out from the blog? That's not right." But in all honesty, I can't cover everyone in phone calls, e-mails, etc. so I'll just say it, Ben and I are moving to the Northern Virgina/Washington D.C. area.

The reason I have been so busy lately, with so much travel, and little time to blog, has been because of flying out to interview for the job (it's still with my current company, which I love, yay!) and finding a place for us to live.

I'm a Midwestern girl, who's never left the Midwest in my life, but we're very lucky that we have friends in the D.C. area, and love the area, so we're really looking forward to what lies ahead for us.

Of course I'll miss my friends in Minnesota, and the memories I've made here. I went to college here, so naturally, a lot of my friends are still in the Twin Cities. My parents aren't a long drive away, and most notably, the memories of meeting and marrying Ben are here. But, I have to say we're SO excited to move to Virginia and all that comes along with it, and ready to make new memories out east.

So now, join me on this journey, one where I move across the country with my husband, and blog about what it's really like. Also, if you have any advice, or words of wisdom, whether it's about moving, the DC area, staying healthy during a big move, etc. I'd love to hear it!

Stay tuned, because I'm sure I'll have many updates to come, and thanks in advance for your support!

Trying to fit it all in

As stated previously, things have been crazy, busy lately. This weekend, both Ben and I were home and tried to fit in time together, time to get things done, and also time with friends-- oh and time for a workout too.

Friday night consisted of a craft night at Ben's cousin Annie's house. I am notoriously NOT crafty, but she helped me make this beauty.

My flower pin, made with love, and many mistakes

Somehow Annie got me to use the fabric cutter, and I didn't end up in the ER with stitches.


She was a great teacher to all of us, and even made her own beautiful flower pin that I will never be able to match in beauty!

Annie, surveying the other, more craft worthy, attendees


The hostess and her handy work

Thanks to these lovely ladies, I was about to get in a seven mile, very humid, and therefore very challenging for this asthmatic, run on Saturday morning bright and early.

Me, Jen, and Jen

Thank goodness we did our run when we did. Literally as I drove out of the parking lot to go home, and huge roll of thunder sounded and the the hazy clouds became dark and ominous, bringing on a big storm.

Then, I was able to attend my college friend Nina's wedding with the gals I went to Journalism School with. It was so great to have the five of us together, as this only happens maybe twice a year if we're lucky.

Jenna, Nina, Me, Molly & Sarah

It was a beautiful wedding, and the first Jewish wedding (with some Christianity mixed in to boot) that I've ever attended. I finally was able to see the breaking of the glass, the chair dance and many other traditions.

Sunday morning, Ben and I met his cousin Annette for breakfast at one of my favorite places in the Twin Cities, the Highland Grill. If you ever are looking for a breakfast place in the Twin Cities area, be sure to go to one of their many "Grill" locations; I've never had a bad experience with their breakfast menu.

Following breakfast, I had a large to-do list, but was SO glad I made time to head over to my pal Cindy's pool and hang out with she, Amanda and Jen.

Amanda, Me, Jen & Cindy

The couple of hours relaxing by the pool were exactly the relaxation I needed. I got a little bit of color, some much needed gab time, and was able to decompress before I hit the ground running on the errands, cleaning, laundry and cooking that the rest of the day entailed.

I also decided this weekend I'm going to be taking part in Jen's New Rules of Lifting for Women group workouts, check it out! I've heard great things about this book, and it's results and found a really cheap used (but said to be "like new") copy on Amazon. If you're interested, comment on Jen's post and get the book!

How was your weekend??

Summer Fashion Finds

Lately, bloggers have been talking about their summer fashions, and it has my creative juices flowing. I love fashion, I'm not always the best at creating an outfit, but God bless it, I LOVE it.

Recently, Tracy from Sellabit Mum did a great post on recent finds that she's wearing to an upcoming blogger conference. And, I also found this awesome blog, J's Everyday Fashion, that puts together outfits from stores that everyday people can afford.

My staple this summer has been this easy, cute, cotton Kimono dress from Target. I had a dress like this from Nordstrom last summer, but something about the way this one is cut, it fits and feels great, better than the other. I usually wear it with a black tank underneath, but it's great for car or air travel because it's comfortable, and you can still show up to feeling like you didn't just roll out of a hot car, or stuffy airplane.

I've also found some great stuff on the Gap Clearance rack this summer, including this dress for work.

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And let me tell you, when I bought this it wasn't freaking $45 dollars like it is online. With 40% off clearance, I got it for a whopping TWELVE DOLLARS. That's right, 12 bucks! I felt like it was a real steal (and it was!) I highly recommend Gap's clearance racks right now.

I'm a lover of dresses in general in summer, sure you may have to shave your legs more, but the easy, one piece outfit, is where it's at. Plus, in the freezing Minnesota climate wearing dresses, even with tights, in the winter is not an option most days.

And, if you really love a deal, and are looking for fall items, the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is on now until August 1. I pretty much consider this sale a national holiday. This year I bought a few cute things (scarf, costume jewelery, basic black top, perfume, etc.), but nothing major, but I love the great deals that this sale includes!