Who is this supposed Italian boy anyway?

chimes — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

If you’re new to my blog, you might find yourself wondering, who is this amazing man and why do I keep letting him cook for me?

Well, my wonder-bred Italian boy is none other than my boyfriend (my BF or beef as Kelly and I started saying), Mark. What gives with the nickname? Well …

Right before we started dating, I jokingly referred to him as my Italian boy. Mostly because his last name is Italian and it was a well-known fact that he was great in the kitchen. But he informed me that he was “about as Italian as white bread,” since he is mostly Irish. So I started calling him my “white bread Italian boy”. And when we started dating, he earned a place on my blog. But I realized that “white bread Italian boy” was a little bit offensive. So I changed it to wonder-bred. I liked keeping the idea behind the original name, but instead of offending, I wanted to give a nod to the fact that he comes from a pretty cool family.

Soo … that’s the story. And I’m stickin’ to it. He cooks for me. I blog about it — and sometimes even cook for myself and blog about it. He’s even gotten so good at his job that he takes photos AND styles his plate for the shoot.

[ eh, it's not a big deal, okay? ]

I finally decided it was time to make his spot on my blog a little graphic. And instead of making it from slightly embarrassing photos of him, I dug deep in my graphic designer soul to create a cheesy graphic that is reminiscent of generic super-Americanized pasta sauce. Though … I forgot to kern the C with the O, and the double Os — even crappy fonts need letter-spacing love. Whoops!

But — bada bing. Bada boom. (sorry. Had to throw that in).

It kind of makes me want to eat a deep fried piece of chicken with Ragú on it. Or maybe some pizza.

So what does he make?
Besides working on perfecting a gluten-free pizza crust for me, a Chicago-style sausage pizza that would put Lou Malnati to shame, and working on a hot wing sauce to knock my socks off he makes:

Chicken Cacciatore
BBQ Pork and Southern-Style Corn Bread
Homemade Chips and Salsa (he is HUGELY into making everything from scratch)
Homemade Ravioli and Fresh Tomato Sauce
Chicken Strips and Sweet Corn
Turkey Burgers and Coleslaw
Chicken Fajitas
Pan-Fried Steak Salad with Green Beans
Sausage with Arugula and Fennel Pizza
Marinara Sauce
LOTS of Pizza
Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil
Calzones
Grilled Steak and Blue Cheese Sammies on Garlic Foccacia Bread
Lasagna Rollups
Cheesy Sausage Quiche with Hashbrown Crust
Everything from the Garden Pasta

As you can see, he’s a pretty busy boy in the kitchen. When he’s not in the kitchen, he’s a mechanical engineer. And he engineers a lot of things with Legos.

Who’s your muse? OR What is your ancestry?

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See ya later, Y’all + Swagtastic Trail Mix Cookies

chimes — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Guess what I did yesterday …

… besides bust into Thriller* at the gym?

Hey. There were some creepos staring at me. So I gave them a reason to stare. Thanks, MJ.

I finished LIVEFIT. Finally. Oh, and I RAN. Yeah. Considering my blog is life + running, I’ve been seriously slacking on the running part. I’m going to come clean: It’s because I’m slow. And I can’t run as far. This bothers me. But what’s the only way to get back into peak running shape? I’ll give you a hint — it’s ACTUALLY running. Slowest run of the decade (I can say that honestly because I’ve averaged 8:30/mi since 2009! Previously about 10/mi).

And sorry. There aren’t any awkward bikini photos to share. I don’t think I look any different than I did at the end of Phase 2. So clearly, I didn’t kick as much ass as I should have in Phase 3. I’m going to repeat Phase 3 again sometime. But not until after Fitmixer Boot Camp.

And speaking of Fitmixer? I’m giving some amino away. Enter if you’re interested. AND if you are unlucky, like me, and don’t have access to any in your area, you can purchase some from the link on my blog by clicking on this (or click on the one in my sidebar):

BUT THIS ISN’T WHY I’M SO EXCITED THAT I’M TYPING IN ALL CAPS!!! AND USING MULTIPLE !!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! !!!!! (ok you get the point)

As of 4:30 PM today I will be on my way to Austin, TX for the Renegade Craft Show. My friend Amanda is selling her ceramics. And she was kind enough to invite me along to help her. Why yes, please. I’m going to be using the hashtag #howdychimes on twitter and instagram so I can easily stalk myself later for blogging purposes, in case you want to follow me.

I have a slew of interesting guest bloggers lined up for this weekend. So please come back and read. Some of the posts are from non-bloggers (who should start a blog, cough cough, Calee Spinney). All of the guest posts have to do with healthy living — mentally and physically.

While I’m out, why don’t you make some of these cookies and let me know how you like them? It was my first experiment with Xagave. And I was pleasantly surprised when I bit into a cookie and didn’t get the sugar rush that I normally get from regular cookies.

I also used a bunch of granola samples that I got in my swag bag from Blend. Along with some other great finds from my local co-op’s Incredible Bulk sale (yeah, they did that — and Mark and I made the executive decision to become members. Finally. It took a jug of beer to convince him. Boys.)

And in an effort to integrate my profession (graphic design) into my blog, I’ve started setting up my photos a little nicer. And I’m giving them some pizazz — making them pop — if you will (I’m cringing just writing those two things — I HATE when clients ask me to “make something pop”. Really? How does one make something POP?). Though, I haven’t found my groove yet. This is looking a bit slapped together. Sorry. It’s pink? Sorry if I give you a migraine or a seizure (no kidding there).

And I am fully aware that my photos of food can be better. But that requires getting out my big kid camera and setting up lights, and that’s just a step I’m not ready to take yet (though, I do have some amazing tilapia taco photos that I’m a little proud of. Next week kiddos).

Anyway. Here is the recipe. I made these for my dad and grandpa for the cookie of the month club this month. Let me know if this works out for you! They’re semi-healthy. And you can tweak your mix-ins to make them even more healthy.

swagtastic trail mix cookies

ingredients
1/4 c butter (1/2 a stick)
2/3 c Xagave OR 1 c brown sugar if you don’t have Xagave
1 t vanilla
1 egg
1 egg white
1/2 c peanut butter
1/4 c Nutella (could use 3/4 c peanut butter OR Nutella OR nut butter of choice instead)
2 1/2 c granola, oats, hot cereal mix (I used a mixture of granola sample packets from Blend and 7 grain hot cereal, which is the consistency of rolled oats)
1/2 c crisp rice cereal (could use 3 cups of granola / oats mixture, but this gives a fun texture)
1 c chocolate chips (or other mix-ins like white chocolate chips, craisins, etc.)

directions

Preheat oven to 350°.
Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix butter and Xagave (or sugar) together until blended.
Add egg, egg white and vanilla and stir until combined.
Mix your nut butter in.
Add granola mixture.
Pour in rice cereal. At this point if it seems too liquidy, add more rice cereal OR granola mixture (I think I added about a half a cup extra of the granola mixture).
Stir in your chocolate chips or other mix-ins.
Drop by tablespoonful onto the parchment paper-prepared baking sheets.
Bake 15-17 minutes (these take a little while longer because of the extra liquid from the Xagave instead of sugar — if using sugar, bake for 10-12 minutes).
Remove from oven. Let cool on cookie sheets for 5-7 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

How do you feel about substituting sugar or other things when baking to make something more healthy? OR Have you tried the Fitmixer Amino yet?

\\\\\\\\

PS I realize I linked to Bollywood Thriller. That wasn’t an accident. You have to watch. Try not to pee your pants.)

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life+running » baking

Who is this supposed Italian boy anyway?

See ya later, Y’all + Swagtastic Trail Mix Cookies

swagtastic trail mix cookies