Category Archives: Family

Pizzas & Puzzles

Posted on February 19, 2012 | 16 Comments

Today’s workout: 3.26 miles of stairs + 2.61 miles. The best part? Kevin noticed that ESPN was airing some coverage from last year’s Cross Fit games. I was so excited because I’ve been trying to talk Kevin into trying it with me sometime (if you have no idea what it is, check out this video. It’s ridiculous). I love that it’s “the sport of being fit.” I’m a huge scaredy cat, and not tough at all, but for some reason I’ve convinced myself I want to try it. I think my first step will be when I can complete some double unders!

This weekend has been super booked for us after being gone last weekend, and I’ve totally been oversocialized. Our last event of the weekend was Marriage + Class, and we were sooo looking forward to coming home afterwards to some peace & quiet. I made some homemade pizza with my favorite toppings green peppers, onions, and pineapple. Mmmmmmm!! Kevin’s side had no piña and a lot of jalapeños.

I know my friends are going to die when they see this, but Kevin had been casually mentioning that he thought it would be fun if we did a puzzle together sometime. So I surprised him with one on Valentine’s Day! We didn’t really do anything big since I was planning to plan (yes, I plan to plan!) it over last weekend and we ended up in unexpectedly in Chicago! But he still got his puzzle!

He hid behind the table because he didn’t want all my readers to see him in pajamas again. Outed.

Yeah. Let’s be real. I’m totally faking it here. I’m never that intent about anything – except maybe Garmin stats. But I did go through all the puzzle pieces to flip them over and check for missing edge pieces! There are 1000 pieces! And I didn’t say,”Am I there yet?” Not even once.

In my defense, I’ve put together 3 pieces. And finding the missing edges really helped Kevin out. Or maybe he just says that because he’s a sweet husband.

By the way, I chose this Flags of the World puzzle. It was between puppies and some sort of a geographical theme. I went with flags because I felt that learning about them might help me in one of my vicious Corrie versus Jeopardy!-on-tv matches! Hopefully someone in the gym will hear my yell the answer to an obscure flag question and be really impressed. These are the things I strive for in my puzzle selection.

Our biggest fear? You know Boyd is going to eat a puzzle piece, right? And that’s it! That’s the end.

He’s just waiting….

No, we didn’t have two kinds of pizza tonight. This is pizza I made on Friday night, and felt the liberty to share now since this post had “pizza” in the title. I love a good pita pizza, don’t you? This variety had bbq sauce, black beans, red onion, pineapple, and mozz.  We each ate two. And a half.

Do you like puzzles? Not really. Why do you think I’m blogging right now? I do LOVE a good crossword puzzle. But I have too many gaping holes in categories like “sports” and “anything in pop culture that took place before 2000.”

Ever tried Cross Fit? Or want to? Not yet. Although I have done quite a few at-home workouts that would be similar (but not as hard!).

How long do you think it will take us to finish this puzzle? I’m thinking I’ll probably invited someone over to dinner before it’s done. And then things are going to get ugly. We’ve been working on it about 1.5 hours now and the border isn’t even finished. Just to give you a hint. ;)

 

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Posted in Family, Fitness, Food, Marriage

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Insta-Weekend: February 11-13, 2012

Posted on February 14, 2012 | 9 Comments

We were unexpectedly called out of town this weekend due to Kevin’s grandmother passing away on Friday morning. We’re absolutely exhausted, but it was a truly a beautiful & sweet weekend celebrating his grandma’s life and sharing with family. I am thankful I had the chance to meet his grandma back in July when we roadtripped it to Chicago. One of the first things I remember hearing about her is that she would be pleased with my “pedigree” because I’m very Irish. I loved seeing all of her stylish photos and the classic family movie!

Our time there was definitely concentrated on honoring family and spending time with them, but I did manage to snap a few photos. My father-in-law actually seemed quite concerned when I wasn’t taking pictures of my food at times. (He’s a new fan of the blog since he was featured this month!)

L: When We Were Strangers. I read this book on the plane to Denver. Definitely a well-written and riveting story of an Italian’s immigrant’s journey; however, it took an unexpected turn around page 200 that I couldn’t quite get behind. Can I just say that at least it had a happy ending?

R: Typical airport pic!

L: Chinese food. We had to travel to all three gates to get this. Haha. Long story, but we love our airport Chinese.

R: Kevin also packed a bag of snacks to keep his wife happy. We enjoyed this endangered chocolate while watching the Westminster Dog Show late Sunday night.

L: My first Valentine’s Sbux!

R: A fun size Valentine’s M&Ms we pilfered from the stash we brought for our nieces/nephews.

L: I was able to carve out 30 minutes each day to hit the gym, and that was it! It also required me setting my alarm brutally early this morning, but I knew it’d be a long day without any activity. On the plus side, I scored two apples and two mini bottles of water! They had towels in the refrigerator at our hotel’s gym. How fancy!

R: The only pop we could get our hands on late at night in the hotel. 10 oz glass bottles of Diet Pepsi.

L: After the funeral, the family shared lunch at Cucian Biagio! It was a beautiful meal with soup, salad, three kinds of pasta, and tiramisu. Kevin didn’t give me his tiramisu. Can you believe the nerve? He doesn’t even like coffee!

R: Girl in Translation was my read on return flight to Denver. I finished it just in the nick of time. I almost had to make Kevin stay on the plane so I could read the Epilogue. Kind of a sweet mother/daughter tearjerker, but is it okay that I’m hoping my next book doesn’t deal with an immigrant heroine faced with an unwanted pregnancy? That said, the two books made my flights go by in a snap, and were at very least. distracting and entertaining.

Good night!! See you around this week.

What’s the best book you’ve read lately? I love suggestions! And happy endings.

What’s your favorite brand of chocolate? I want to try the Endangered otter chocolate. Just because I like otters. :)

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Posted in Books, Family

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Cathy & Jim Take Denver: The In-laws Weekend

Posted on January 30, 2012 | 20 Comments

Happy Monday! Sorry for abandoning you all weekend, but you know, I had to spend quality time with the in-laws! It was fun having more than 2 people to cook for this weekend so, of course, I went all out with a Saturday morning brunch.

 

Parfaits: Vanilla Greek yogurt + blackberries & strawberries + granola.

 

I’ve been working on developing my spiritual gift of remembering family members’ food preferences and remembered that my mother-in-law is a big fan of sweet potato fries. I decided to experiment a little and came up with a nice skillet of fried breakfast sweet potatoes! I added cumin and red onion to make them nice & savory (so Kevin would eat them!). The eggs were baked in a ramekin with basil, halved cherry tomatoes, turkey bacon, and parmesan cheese and served with a toasted English muffin.

For dessert, we had leftovers of the best chocolate cake ever!

I know what you’re thinking! Yes, I even made my in-laws get some exercise in! We hiked about 3.5 miles over in Cherry Creek Park. I was actually kind of the one holding the group up!! My left foot had really been bothering me after my multiple poor decisions in breaking in new shoes! It’s feeling better now, but I almost thought Kevin James was going to have to carry me back.

But they got me back for that intense workout…

We all have our nerdy little hobbies. Kevin and especially his dad are apparently big into Lionel train sets.

We decided a train store would be a good place for single girls to meet NERDY available men with lots of disposable income!

I was sorely disappointed that there were hardly any trains chugging around the store!! I just wanted to see them running and doing cool stuff with smoke.

I consoled myself with some celebrity gossip while I waited for them to check out engines and whatnot. I have no clue. ;)

Our next stop was a lot more exciting! We’d heard about the Tattered Covered bookstore from some friends, and it was something I knew my MIL would enjoy – so it was my perfect chance to check it out! Because otherwise we all know that I’d spend the whole weekend either at home or at the gym!

I was in heaven!! I couldn’t figure out what to look at first!

Paper dolls of great authors caught my eye. I had to send the George Orwell section to my old roommate, Megan. Nobody loves Georgie more than Megan! I was more of a fan of the Jane Austen dolls myself.

I couldn’t resist paging through a book about dog tricks! Never gonna happen with Boyd! But when I get my Vizsla… I can only dream of a dog who can jump rope with me!! I love it!

My in-laws live in Winona – the craziest restaurant there is probably Perkins. So we took them out to our favorite Indian place – India’s Restaurant.

They peer pressured me into ordering something different from my usual Chicken Tikka Masla. I went with Naryal Chicken (chicken cooked in a deliciously flavored coconut sauce). Yum! I loved it, but it was definitely way spicier than anything they’d ever given me there. I usually always order “medium” in spiciness. Kevin and his dad both ordered it “hot” to show what real men they are.

For some reason, I neglected to take any pictures on Sunday. I was kinda beat. But we really enjoyed bringing Kevin’s parents to our Young Marrieds Sunday School, and they obviously didn’t leave town without checking out Yogurtini!

What’s your favorite section to browse in a bookstore? Cookbooks, health, fiction, and children’s books. I found an awesome children’s book called Red Sled. I absolutely loved it! I made Kevin look at all the pictures with me.

How spicy do you like it? Mild, Medium, or Hot. I usually go with medium at a restaurant, but I make things pretty spicy at home. My nose is always running.

Where’s your favorite place to take visitors to your city? We’re really not very good at this yet, but if they are from the Midwest they usually enjoy the restaurant selection. :)

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Posted in Denver, Eating out, Family, Healthy recipes

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Cookie Friday Fail + My Chocolate Cake Redemption

Posted on January 27, 2012 | 14 Comments

Today’s workout: 4.25 mile run + 2.10 on the elliptical. I know, it’s weird. I ellipticized. But I have this blister and after a mile of running, I didn’t think I was going to be able to hack it. So I got on the elliptical. Two miles on that thing seemed to numb the pain (and my brain), and I was able to run again!! The elliptical is not my friend, but I guess it helped me out today!

Let me be clear. I did not fail to MAKE cookies — it’s just that, the cookies were a failure.

You see, I really am firm in my belief that “too much of a good thing is a good thing”, and I put way too much marshmallow fluff. I’m sure this is a perfectly good recipe for Hot Cocoa Cookies – if you follow it correctly.

As you can see, that didn’t stop Kevin from scraping them off and eating a few! I decided to give myself a little grace since I was out of flour last night, and I was not in the mood for another flop!

And since I have to do everything I can to prove that I’m good enough for the baby of the family ;) , I decided to think up a super chocolatey recipe for my father-in-law.

And then I remembered Deidre’s famous chocolate cake. She even made it for our wedding! We were emailing it up (like always!), and she sent me the link.

I was really nervous about the bundt cake flipping, but I decided to go for it!

Too Much Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
  • 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well-greased 12 cup bundt pan.
  3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar + I added SPRINKLES!

YUMMY!! Kevin looks so dreamy! :)

Like father like son! ;)

For some reason we felt the need to eat dinner before dessert – lasagna magherit! I made it ahead of time this afternoon (while I was unfortunately not at an interview), and just popped it in the oven when it was time for dinner.  Just the pasta, the ricotta, basil, sauce, and cheese! So simple & delish.

After dinner was game time!

Aren’t they cute in their matching vests?

My husband has quite the game face. Man, I just love him so much!

And now, before bedtime, I have some very important questions for you.

Chocolate or vanilla? I’d probably choose vanilla. Vanilla fro-yo is definitely better than chocolate fro-yo. And everything goes back to fro-yo, right?

Cake or cookies? Cake. It’s more likely to have frosting!

Board games or movie night? Board games!! Unless I want to blog. Than movie night because I can rarely just watch a movie or tv. I have to multi-task!

P.S. That chocolate cake is the BEST! And it was super easy to whip up. You should definitely try it. Word on the street is that there’s also a lower cal version that uses fat free sour cream + sugar-free pudding. I should’ve read the reviews first…

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Posted in Family, Fitness, Food

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Christmas with the Kreisels (& McMillins)

Posted on December 26, 2011 | 11 Comments

Hey! We’re still traveling around, but I wanted to share a few pics with lucky you! Look forward to a super funny video post in the near future starring Kevin James!

One of my favorite parts of Christmas with the Kreisels was having a chance to attend a Christmas Eve service (complete with candles!!!!!).

Isn’t the alliteration of Christmas with the Kreisels fun? I like saying it because it’s close to Christmas with the Kranks… although I’ve never read the book/seen the movie.

Such a blessing to sing, reflect, and share the service with family!

That’s me, telling me sweet blogger husband to quit taking pictures and get back in the row!!! He totally misunderstood me. I just wanted a picture of the candle itself. I figured he would be able to do it more safely. I’m not known for my skill in juggling iPhones & burning candles! :)

One of our favorite gifts that we gave this year was to our nephew, Steven. He’s really into sharks, and this stuffed animal is actually bigger than he is. It was a gigantic hit!!

Another fun game? Tickling my nieces/nephews till they say,”Corrie is the BEST!!” Steven Fernando is especially persistent. Don’t you love that middle name? I’m pushing for my new nephew (coming this spring!) to be named Eduardo! I had so much fun suggesting baby names! Especially since my nephew is half-Mexican, and I can choose Latin names!! For some reason, they didn’t want to go with Enrique! ;) No me digas que no!!

Feel free to tell me how much you love my tights. They added a little whimsy to my boring black.

Fake moustaches = super fun stocking stuffer!!!

And this is when we discovered – in the most painfully slow way possible – that I’m the only one in the fam who can hold an iPhone steady enough not to get a blurry pic on the baby iPhone. I think we’re going to need to fashion an iPhone tripod so we can get a decent pic of Kevin and me. I’m going to need a pic to compare my neon white skin of this year with last year’s bronzed goddess look. Aren’t you proud of me for not tanning? I mean, aren’t you? We all know that I’m going to cave eventually and go for a spray tan, right? Definitely before I visit the DR…. I can’t face the ridicule!! :)

This was just a test… to see if my phone was still working with the awful pictures Hannah Banana was taking. But please, take a moment. Admire Kevin working the J.Crew. What a prepster!!! :)

My cute parents. My mom is a Christmas baby!!!! :)

We made the kids sing for the Christmas presents!! I think that should probably become a yearly tradition!

Do you THINK we’ve been skipping our workouts? Are you KIDDING me?

I think I just realized today that for every picture of myself on the blog where my hair has been washed within 24 hours, there must be an equal and opposite sweaty pic. Yuck! I totally forgot the treadmills at the Y had the little built-in fan action until I was about 30 minutes in! Oops. We totally sneaked into my in-laws’ gym on Christmas Eve to get a good workout. I ran 5.01 @ 7:22 pace + .66 more while my father-in-law was in the sauna (and he wouldn’t get out!).

More workouts:

Christmas Day I ran solo: 3.5 miles in 30 minutes @ 8:36 pace

Day After Christmas Mega Junk Food Hangover: 4.06 miles in 35 minutes @ 8:37 pace

I didn’t get a long run in this week, but I’ve had to consciously make the decision to spend time with fam instead of obsessing over mileage (and blog posting for that matter).

I’ll leave you with a cute one!

Me + My 2 Baby Sisters yelling,”Moooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!”  Are we identical, or what?

P.S. Doesn’t it always seem like you’re missing SOMEONE? No matter if I’m in Denver, Minnesota, or the DR!! My heart’s always wandering somewhere else.

I don’t think anyone has ever annoyed me more than Yoalba, but I still plan to name my firstborn child after her:

Yoalba doesn’t like pizza. Isn’t she weird? But she’s gorgeous, one of my bffs, and single! Haha. Please marry her so she can get a visa to visit me in the States. ;)

Just kidding. Kind of. I really miss her. I was my nerdy white brother was old enough… She’s probably going to rip my hair out if she ever reads this. But knowing my chismosa friends like I do… she will.

Are you waiting for the questions? Here they are. Answer them. Unless you’re on your smart phone. Then it’s kind of a pain because sometimes it makes you log in. So annoying.

Are you writing resolutions or goals? Just curious. I definitely have some in mind!!!

What did you eat for Christmas? We had chili for Christmas Eve with the Kreisels, and a more traditional ham dinner with my side. Also some SWEET appetizers that will be featured later.

Favorite gift you GAVE? The shark. And I gave some of the girls tiny American Girl dolls that I was slightly jealous of. And it was fun being able to give Hannah Banana an iPod Touch (we got it for freezies through a bank promotion). My shy sister is too sweet! Kelly caught her reaction below:

 

 

 


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Posted in Family, Running

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Individual Chicken Pot Pies & SIL Time

Posted on November 7, 2011 | 4 Comments

BIG NEWS!!! I bought some larger ramekins today! Now I can make a plethora of bigger & better ramekin dishes.

I bought these with the Individual Chicken Pot Pie recipe from Clean Eating in mind.

INGREDIENTS:

FILLING:

  • Olive oil cooking spray
  • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 4 tsp fresh thyme, minced
  • 2 tbsp whole-wheat flour
  • Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

BISCUITS

  • 3/4 cup skim milk
  • 2 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 cups plus 2 tbsp whole-wheat pastry flour, divided
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp sea salt (optional)
  • 1 tbsp safflower or olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Prepare filling: Heat a large cast-iron or ovenproof nonstick pan over medium-high for 1 minute.  Mist with cooking spray.  Sauté chicken until no longer pink, 3 minutes.

3. Add onion and carrots.  Saute until onion is slightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Add peas and saute for another minute or until thawed.

4. Stir in broth and thyme and cook until broth is warmed, about 2 minutes.  Sit in 2 tbsp whole-wheat flour and reduce heat to medium.  Stir constantly until broth is thickened, about 2 minutes.  Season with pepper and turn off heat, but do not remove pan from element.

5. Begin preparing biscuits: Pour milk in a cup, then add vinegar to milk.  Let stand for 2 minutes.

6. In a large mixing bowl, blend 2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, if desired.  Stir in milk-vinegar mixture, a 1/4 cup at a time, add oil, and then add remaining 2 tbsp whole-wheat pastry flour.  (The dough will be slightly sticky.  If it is too sticky, add another tbsp of flour.)

7. Using your hands, form 12 small biscuits, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.  (If the biscuits are exceptionally sticky, dust your hands with a little bit of flour to make it easier to form them.)  Ladle chicken-vegetable mixture into 4 large ramekins, individual casserole dishes or soup tureens, about 3/4 cup per serving.  Place 3 biscuits on top of each ramekin and place all ramekins into a cookie sheet or baking pan lined with aluminum foil.  (The biscuits will bake on top of chicken-vegetable mixture.)  Place pan on rack in middle of oven.  Bake for 10 minutes or until chicken-vegetable mixture is bubbling and biscuits are slightly browned on top.  To serve, place ramekins on individual plates, as they will be too hot to handle.

I put Kevin & Lisa to work in the kitchen cooking the chicken and chopping vegetables while I made the biscuit topping. It turned out a little dry for my taste, but I have some modifications in mind for next time.

Guess what we did first thing this morning on Lisa’s Big Trip to Visit Me.

Went to the gym! Everybody packs running shoes when they come to visit me. I’m so proud! I ran an easy 3.55 miles while chatting it up with Lisa.

Don’t feel bad for her because she was rewarded with a Sbux spinach & feta breakfast wrap! I couldn’t believe she’d never had one! Those are my fave fast food breakfasts. I had an iced skinny vanilla latte. I was in the mood for the ice, ice baby this morning. Even though it was freezing.

Lisa was so excited to be in Denver she kept forcing me to take super lame pictures like this one out the car window. Haha. I guess I’m immune to it already! Shame on me!

We spent most of the day outfitting Lisa for Baby #3 (she better be a girrrrrl!). The maternity clothes were cuter than I expected! I kept wanting to find non-maternity versions of some of the clothes. Especially this one super cute sweater. You’ll just have to wait & see because I don’t want to steal her thunder by spoiling her new outfits on the internet.

For lunch I talked Lisa into the Qdoba Naked Taco Salads. Unfortunately we weren’t near the one with the awesome pop machine, but she still loved it! We seriously love that guac!

Oh man. We scored Halloween pretzels M&Ms for 80 cents, and still had leftover candy corn from the airport trip. I made Kevin & Lisa guess how many M&Ms. They both guessed in the 30′s! ARE THEY CRAZY??!?! That’s why people have problems with portion control & sweets. There were at least double that in the jar! I started counting them but lost interest. Why doesn’t that surprise you?

I’m more exhausted from all that mall walking than I usually am from a day at the office, but it’s been so good to spend some qt with my sister-in-law. Awwwa.. family! We’re trying to figure out some fun touristy stuff to do tomorrow – soaking up every minute.

Hope you had a Happy Monday! :)

 

 


 

 

 

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