Takin’ Care of Stuff

Heey! I’ve been a bad blogger recently………tests have really been taking up a lot of time! So sorry! I’m finishing my LAST final today, so I should be back to my normal bloggin’ self soon!

So, my mom had to go on a week-long trip to resolve some mission stuff. She’ll be back on Tuesday, so in the meantime, my sister and I are doing a lot of the stuff that she normally does. Like for example, did you know that here you have to sweep and mop every day? Well, you do. And we don’t use dishwashers or drying machines, which means that dishes are handwashed and clothes are hung out to dry. I don’t really mind doing these things, especially since I don’t really have a full workload of school. To me, being productive beats sitting around being bored! 😀 Except for when it comes to cleaning bathrooms……which is my least favorite chore!! What is your least favorite thing to do around the house? 

One thing that I do love to do is cook. I was going to make a soup last night, but the chicken broth that we had was homemade, and wasn’t edible any more, so we created a plan B. Dad ordered a steak from a restaurant up the street, and we had leftover rice, beans and pasta. I also made some biscuits to go with our meal. It was a super-simple and quick recipe, which is great because I had less than 30 minutes to whip them together! 😀

Dinner Biscuits (from Taste of Home)

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Half-and-half cream or milk, optional
• Butter and/or honey

Directions

• In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Combine milk and oil; pour over dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead 5-6 times. Roll out to 1/2-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-in. biscuit cutter. Place on a greased baking sheet.
• Brush tops with cream if desired. Bake at 425° for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with butter and/or honey. Yield: 6 biscuits.

I actually only ended up with 5 biscuits, but they were delicious and fluffy. Plus, a quick way to round out our meal!

I’ve been loving going to my Wednesday spinning class, however yesterday the teacher couldn’t make it. I ended up spending some quality time on the treadmill…..watching CSI! haha It was the only way I could have possibly stayed on there, and I didn’t have my cardio circuit workout written down with me. Do you have any staple cardio circuits? If so, please share!!!

Well, I should get goin’ on the studying!

See ya’ tomorrow!!!!

So Many Tests!

Heey!!!! So, I disappeared over the weekend…..mostly because I slept in and was too lazy to turn on the computer….:P We didn’t do too much though, I think I only left the apartment twice…hahahaha! My sister and I hung out at home on Saturday and yesterday, the whole family was here. Not a lot of activity, but definitely relaxing. Which is a good thing, considering the fact that the next 2-3 weeks will be packed with tests for me. This week, I have finals, and then after that, I’ll take “challenge exams” which will basically prove that I actually took the course, and will give me the credit on my high school diploma. The thing about challenge exams is that they are pass/fail, so no do-overs!!!!! Sorta stressful…hahaha! How was your weekend????

As you all know, I recently joined a gym. One part of their program is to provide a personal trainer for each member. Over a period of 45 days, this trainer will design an initial workout program and a nutrition program for the new member. After that period, you still work with your trainer, its just not quite as intense. The past two weeks have been devoted to designing my workout program, and this week I have my first meeting devoted to nutrition. I’ve been asked to keep a food diary, and on Wednesday, my trainer, a nutritionist and I will talk about what I need to change in order to gain some weight. I’m sort of nervous but also pretty excited about this! I’ve been doing a lot better emotionally, but its just been really hard to put on any weight.

On a lighter note, we still haven’t fixed our coffee pot, but this has not stopped us from making coffee every day!!! hahahahaha Dad has been looking for a tube or something that he says will fix it, but hasn’t had any luck so far…..oh well! 😀

This morning, I made Emily’s microwave baked oats for one!!!! So, so good!!! You should definitely try this out!! In my microwave, the whole cooking process took about a minute, and then I had a bowl of yummy baked oats for me brekkie!!! Quick, filling, and nutritious! Gotta love it!!!! 😀

That’s about it for today…..I’ll see ya’ll later!!!

Questions:

What’s your favorite way to study for a lot of tests????

What did you do over the weekend??

Have you ever met with a nutritionist? What was it like????

Ouch!

Hey!!!!!!How has your week been? Mine has been super busy….what with school and actually getting out and going to the gym and all, I feel like I’ve definitely been more productive and out of the house lately!!! 😀

Yesterday was my second day going to the gym. Each new member is assigned a personal trainer, who designs a workout plan based on their goals and ability. So, my trainer decided that I should do strength training (major muscle groups) three days a week, and cardio (with some minor muscle group strength training) twice. Let me just say that I am SORE! Extremely. And hungry, too.

Because I’m ADD and can’t for the life of me stay on one exercise machine for  longer than 20 minutes, I found this really fun 40-minute cardio workout to do yesterday that had me jumping from the stationary bike to the elliptical and finishing up on the treadmill! I lightened the intensity a little so that I wouldn’t burn too many calories, but I still got a good workout in without boring myself to death!!! Of course, I just had to toss together a playlist to keep me goin’ during my workout. Apparently I’m ADD in my musical tastes as well, because I had everything from the Little Mermaid to some Christian rock songs to Hey Soul Sister! hahaha Here’s what my playlist looked like:

Eclectic, huh? hahaha

For Cinco de Mayo, we had some burritos and cheesy tortilla soup!!!! So, so good! 😀 Here’s my soup recipe, which I got off the internet, but can’t find again:

Cheesy Tortilla Soup
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, minced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (28-ounce) can low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water, divided
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles
4 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)

Bring about 1 inch of water to a boil in a skillet large enough to hold the chicken in a single layer. Add chicken, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until chicken is done, about 15 minutes. Drain chicken; cut into 1/2-inch cubes.

In a medium stockpot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; saute until soft.

Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes and their liquid, chicken broth and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water.

Stir together cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup water; stir into stockpot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until broth is slightly thickened.

Stir in chiles, cheese, cilantro and cooked chicken. Stir until cheese melts, then let simmer for 10 minutes.
This was sooo yummy!!! We didn’t have any cooked chicken, and since my mom was already browning beef, I omitted the chicken breast. It was really tasty!!! I also fried up some tortilla strips to top the soup with, and they were a hit!!!!! What did ya’ll do for Cinco de Mayo?

Well, I have to go study now….hope you all have a wonderful day!

Joining a Gym

Heey everyone!!! How has your week been?? Mine has been pretty busy, and the weather has been yucky! Rainy season has officially begun, and I can’t wait until August when its sunny again!

So, as you can probably tell from the title of this post, I joined a gym! I actually joined last night, and am going in today for a physical-type thing. Here’s a link to the gym’s site (which is in portuguese, but you can still sort of get an idea of what its like): http://www.hiacademia.com.br/tamarineira.htm.

They have this really cool program where every member of the gym works with a personal trainer to meet specific goals. The trainer will design some of my workouts, as well as give me some nutritional advice. This was one of the main reasons that I joined this particular gym, because I am trying to gain weight, and I believe that having a professional accompany me will keep me from going down the wrong path. Anyway, I can walk there from our apartment, and I absolutely love all of the classes that they offer!!!!! 😀

As for the weight gain, I have finally hit 100lb again!! So excited! I attribute most of this gain to the fact that I consumed almost an entire jar of peanut butter( the normal sized one) in a week!!! hahahaha What can I say? I needed some healthy fats, apparently! I still have 15 lb to go, but just hitting 1oo has given me a bit of a confidence boost!!!! My family is an amazing support system, and you guys are, too!!!! 😀

So, tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, and we’re planning on a Mexican fiesta….Brazilian style! hahaha Mom and I were talking about it this morning, and we’re thinking maybe burritos (since they’re pretty customizable), and chicken tortilla soup! Remember, a couple of months ago, when I raved about McAlister’s Cheesy Chicken Tortilla soup?? Well, I found a copycat recipe online a while ago, and have wanted to try it out ever since!!!! If its any good, I’ll definitely be posting the recipe!!!!

Also, about my gluten free/reduced gluten experiments, I have to say that I’m feeling so much better!!! I still haven’t been able to find any reasonable gf flours here, so I do eat some bread, but less, and I can tell that there’s a difference!!! Is there any way that I could make my own gf flours?? Like rice flour or something? That sort of thing is soooo expensive and hard to find here…..I feel that if I could make my own it would be a very good thing!!!

Well, I had better get going….

See ya later!!!