Week 10-coming to an end?

Snow has started to fall and the last weeks of the semester are soon approaching. Meaning this BHAG assignment is coming to an end. However for it to be a true BHAG, there is no end to it. Yes I won't have to answer any more for it or talk about it. But I can still strive for it, and work to reach it. Because I will admit I definitily didn't reach it in the past ten weeks. I had it at moments, but I don't think I never got it.

I improvised with cooking this week. Didn't really want to go shopping since the long thanksgiving break is coming up. So I tried the approach of just opening the fridge and creating something from the stuff I found in it (something other then the classic top ramen). As you can see from the pictures above I created a chicken wrap. Heated up a tortila, then chicken nuggets, sprinkled some cheese on it (if i had lettuce i would have added it), then I put ceasar salad dressing on it. Food doesn't have to be complicated I have discovered. It is far from complicated actually.

Exercise wise I did two hours of housekeeping this week to help out at my job. Man oh man am I grateful that it isn't my normal job. Time flew by and before I knew it beds were made, towels were folded, and my back was killing me. I think I would rather go to the gym, or exercise to video tapes from now on. Im surprised though. For the first time in a long time I have done something physical at least once a week for more then thirty minutes. That is an achievment, but not the achievement I want. So this might be the end of blogging but not the end of trying.

Week 9

Another week has come and gone. Snow has touched down in Logan, and the temperature has definitily dropped. One night this past week I came home and was the only one home. I wanted something nice and warm so I put a frozen pizza in the oven. Well next thing I know I see smoke! (before you jump to conclusions I did take off the wrapper). Anywho long story short that made me a tad nervous about our oven and debating whether or not if it was possessed. I woke up yesterday morning and decided to google a recipie for this weeks meal. I found it on Betty Crockers website: Slow Cooker Cheesy Ravioli Casserole. (http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/slow-cooker-cheesy-ravioli-casserole-crowd-size/dc587975-829a-48e2-a6d3-415bbb34692e). I figured I was safe since I knew everything that it called for on the recipie (I didn't know how to prepare them). Marrals sister was up this weekend so when we went grocery shopping on Saturday she helped me pick a clove of garlic and an onion. Then they showed me how to prepare them. It was a LOT of fun actually. The chopping and peeling...it was sort of invigorating.

In the exercise department there is still room for improvement. I found some old workout movies that me and marral had. Did them during the week. Then on Sautrday I cleaned the bathroom, our room, the kitchen and then did a tae boe movie. The whole time I kept on wondering where the tae boe guy was at today. Was he still in shape? Or super old living in a trailer park broke? I must admit I was very curious. I am working on not snacking after nine and drinking lots of water. There were a lot of times this week when I was tempted to drink soda pop...but I didn't! I am very proud to admit that because boy was I tempted. But eh, there is other things more important in life then soda pop. See ya next week!

Week 8

Another week has come and gone. This semester seems to be going by a lot quicker then it was a month ago. Maybe it is just the holidays or something. I got back into exercising this week. I did an exercise video in my apartment. It was a biggest loser exercise dvd. I though, hmmm I can't even remember the last time I did this. However it came quickly back to me as I was doing it that I did not like that movie. Then I had the chance to go to the IWA dance this week. Dancing for two hours with a guy who loves to swing dance can give a girl a really good workout. I had the time of my life, but was so annoyed that I got short winded so easily. I talked with Amy in our class who is working on running a marathon. We talked about our frustrations and how our goals were coming. After listening to her success and such I was disappointed in myself. But then remembered that this is a learning experience and that there is something that can always be improved. The key is to do that, to only get better.

Dinner was delicious this week. It was another family recipie of my roommate, Marral. It was her familys version of mac and cheese. Macaroni noodles, tomato sauce, hamburger, and cheese. The key is to constantly stir, oh and to grade (i wonder if there is a different spelling for this) lots of cheese. Marral joked with me that she would help me but she wasn't going to cause I insisted to do all on my own. So there I was again grating cheese, lots of cheese. However I love being the one in control of the meal. It is like a mini adventure. To take a bunch of ingredients and to make something out of it. I even realized today how much I enjoy the after part. I mean having something substantial to eat is GREAT! Yet it is even better to have roommates around and to eat with them at the dinner table. The same goes for when I have been home with my mom. The best part is sitting down, eating and talking with her.

I guess I need to follow the book good to great. Not be focused on me but be more focused on my goal. I have been doing good but I know I can do better!

Week 7-Happy Halloween!

Another week has gone by and more lessons learned. I had the chance to go home for a brief visit this weekend. So I helped my mom make some soup for a family halloween party. It was taco soup. I blended steamed tomatoes with salsa. Then poured that into a crock pot. Then poured beans and corn into the crock pot. Then I browned 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger. Note to self when dealing with red liquids and pouring in more ingredients...do it slowly! It has a habit to get all over if your not careful. I had to kind of stand back while leaning forward pouring in all the ingredients. Hmmm...maybe there is a more graceful way to do this. I wonder what Martha Stewart does.

I still have a cough leftover from my cold last week. So I didn't really get back into exercising. However I did end up setting up the ward halloween party for six hours on wednesday. This involved moving, tables, chairs, and a whole lot more. It was a sad to see the party get cleaned up in under an hour. However it was quite the success. Oh and then on Saturday I spent probably an hour in my grandmas backyard raking leaves. That was fun and exhausting. That was why I tried to liven it up a little bit by pouring leaves on my moms head. She however got me back.

Well until next week...I wonder what I should cook next.

Week 6

Another crazy school week has come and gone. What went with this week is my voice! On Tuesday my throat was a tad scratchy, then that night and Wednesday I was down and out with what I would call, the head cold from hell. Doing better, but not completely 100%. That is why I decided to not really push myself this week with exercising. I continued to drink a lot of water, and worked on getting as much sleep as possible. In my opinion that is definitily vital to a healthier lifestyle!

Ok, so above you can see my cooking adventure for the week, Poppyseed Chicken. I discovered it one day at work, when the girl next to me was eating lunch. It smelled incredible! I asked her what it was and before I knew it she emailed me the recipie. Luckily I had a lot of the ingredients already, which is extremely nice I have found (its nice to just grab stuff and make it I have come to determine, shopping is not so nice). What I learned was to cook chicken you have to boil it, and man can that take a long time! Oh and if it starts to foam and have weird things all over...that is ok...its just all the weird stuff (marral told me the term but it doesn't come to mind now) coming off the chicken. I believe it was another success, and my roommates seem to agree.

See ya next week!

Week 5

This week I made Marral's chicken. Marral is my roommate and long time friend. She always likes to cook and I always benefit from her cooking adventures. She knows about my BHAG and knows that I am very particular in being the one to cook (not to let any one necessarily help me). Well when Saturday came and I couldn't really think of what to make she suggested that I make chicken, and that she would teach me how to season it. Now here is how I made the chicken (with Marrals help): defrost the chicken breasts, and then season them on both sides with Paprika, Cumen, Salt, Olive Oil and Garlic Powder. The whole process definitily gets your hands dirty, and I really enjoyed it. Oh and I made mash potatoes with the use of potato pearls (quick and easy). Enjoy the pictures, and as you can tell this week I had a lot of fun. I didn't really know cooking could be this fun.

As for exercising, I went to the gym for an hour with Tazya. However that was all I was able to do last week. Trying to find time, with midterms crazyness was pretty hectic. I have been good about not drinking pop, and have tried to drink more water. I am going to try and do a lot better this week. Maybe go to the gym/exercise more then three times this week. I think this is a continuoues process, of never giving up.

Week 4

What a crazy week! Again I didn't really reach my exercise goals. I did get a workout buddy however and think that will help. Plus my brother got engaged and will be getting married in December. Another driving factor to watch what I eat and to exercise out more. My workout buddy, Tazya and I went to the fieldhouse this week. Instead of working out for just a half an hour we did an hour. Half of the time we spent doing cardio the other doing weights. Then on friday I worked at our ropes course for four hours. I definitily could do more, and will continue to look for ways. Especially since I didn't workout that much this past week I tried to watch what I ate. My focus is to try and not eat after nine. As well as drink a lot more water.

I also improvised on the cooking part of my goal this week. Going to the grocery story at nine oclock on a Saturday night after a mentally exhausting week can do that to you. I decided to go with a trusty crock pot dish, barbequed little smokies, and as a side I made baked potatoes. Yes, those two things together are probably breaking some kind of cooking rule. But to me it was a pretty good meal, that didn't add any stress to my week. I think that is the goal to have when it comes to cooking. When implementing it into your life you want to still keep your style/taste/personality. Oh well enough blabbering for now. Since next week is a longer weekend. I am going to look into doing more of a meal. Cutting, dicing, multiple ingredients...hmmm now this should be interesting.

Week 3

This week I tried to redeem my goal, and put more energy towards making this change. I still am trying to figure out how and when to work out. I pulled out an exercise video that I bought about 5 years ago, and actually really enjoyed it. Then I just did some other exercises in my room for another night of working out. I think for now I am going to stick to the workout video. Oh and when I went home for this past weekend I worked out for an hour on Saturday by doing yard work. My mom asked if I would run the weed wacker while she mowed. I was actually happy to be doing it again. I mean growing up and doing the yard was never one of my favorite things to do. But living away from home and coming back to do yard work was kind of...nice. I think it was the whole taking the weed wacker and just "wacking" things. Luckily no sprinklers, or fence posts suffered any damages. I did get some rocks to the shin and forhead. I consider it a success since no bleeding or wounds happened.

Now food for this week was what my family likes to call spanish rice. Its ground beef, tomato sauce, and rice. I have been wanting to have it for a long time and founding the timing of this weekend perfect for the meal. My mom and I were able to go shopping for the ingredients. Then she was able to walk me through it step by step. I learned that to cook rice you have to do certain things. Like if you cook 1 cup of rice then you need to use two cups of water (double the water to as much rice.) Oh and "simmering" is the boiling but only with little bubbles. Oh and getting the meat from the pan into the casserole dish was very messy. As you can tell from the pictures the meal turned out great, another success to add onto my cooking resume.

Week 2

Another week down and many lessons learned. I guess I will start off by talking about exercising. Monday I had the chance to work at the ropes course for 4 hours, bullaying (spelled wrong) a bunch of volleyball girls. Which means they were on the high obstacles, (caribeaner and rope) while i was on the ground attached to the same rope making sure all went well. I have had the chance to work at the ropes course which is part of the conference center at Utah State campus and I have grown to love every minute of it. Later on during the week I became adventurous and tried my roommates belly dancing tape. I did this in our room, lights off, and no one around. Don't really think I will do it again. It was a workout don't get me wrong, and it was slightly fun but not really. I think I will stick to exercise opportunities in life with taking trips to the gym or going for a walk. Oh and on Saturday I had the chance to be in the homecoming parade for Utah State University. Two hours, 8 blocks, and walked/ran on occasion the entire way. I think the logistics needs to be worked out for next year. The whole having stuff in a wagon and having to grab stuff out and give it to people on the side, well it was hard to keep up with the wagon. A majority of my time was spent jogging towards the wagon. I am extremely glad that the parade was only 8 blocks.
Food adventures this week were not so productive or enlightening. My goal was to watch my portions this week, and to drink more water. I guess you could say I sort of succeeded because my fridge is filled with left overs. However I really shouldn't have gone out as much to eat and the left overs are from multiple meals in short spans of time. I really am going to try this week to make sure that my portions are smaller then before. Oh and for the cooking this week I made enchiladas. I LOVE these enchiladas, fond memories come with this meal.
I learned a lot from this meal. When you have ground beef in the freezer, you should let it thaw out. I didn't really do this, that is why there are pictures of me with two spatulas. Oh then my roommate taught me a way to drain the grease from the pan (note to self that stuff hurts! oh its the picture of me standing by the sink). You shake then put the spatula to the side of the pan draining the grease. Oh and I cooked them at 350 for 20 minutes. Next time in my oven at this apartment I will need to cook it for 30 minutes.
Thanks for reading and I will be back next week. Hopefully with a lot more success then not success as this week was. But I guess its like the saying or metaphor or whatever, if you get kicked off the horse dust yourself right off and get back on it again.

Week 1

This BHAG thing is interesting, I really don't know what to think about it yet. I have double and second guessed it a lot this week. While running with my sister around the block I felt like screaming "i hate you bhag." But then again I would have looked a tad silly. For work this week I had the chance to get in some physical labor/exercise by working at the ropes course. Then that night I went with some other ward members to volunteer building the Whitier Center park. The night came to a bitter end when I tripped over a rock ending up with a handful of gravel. So to sum up the exercise this week, I did some but not the exact perimeters of my bhag. Do I need to try harder? Is the perimeters achievable (have I bit off to much)? The key though I think to my bhag is that I want to focus on fitting it into my life, and I certainly tried to do that this week.

Now onto the cooking part. I came home this weekend to visit my mom and had the chance to make her lasagna. I love her lasagna! However I don't think mine turned out as good as hers. I learned somethings while making the lasagna tonight. When checking to see if the noodles are soft you shouldn't touch them right off because they are HOT! Oh and while draining the noodles you should pour away from yourself and not towards yourself. Luckily my mom instructed me on that before I did it. Oh and while simmering (I think that is the cooking term) the sauce with hamburger you need to watch it at all times because it like to bubble and spurt (that is my kind of cooking language). Pictures of the cooking adventure are shown above. Looks pretty good if I do say so myself. See ya next week.