Duo

RIP Duo - 11/21/09
I'm sorry little man.
The house is very quiet without you.
I miss our talks & your wolf whistles.
My little swinger.

Monday weigh in: 138.8lbs
Confession: I only got on the elliptical Monday and Tuesday, and didn't even last for 10 minutes either day.
Goal: Get on that darn elliptical more than twice!

Cookies

Today I've been baking cookies. I made (cheated) Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies and am currently finishing up baking some peanut butter dog cookies. I found the recipe here. They're very oily...1/2 cup oil and 3tbs peanut butter...and they're burning. So I'm now baking them for 15ish minutes and putting them directly on a cooling rack when they're done. The good news is my dogs don't seem to mind. They've sampled and approved them. The cookies are in the shape of gingerbread men. :)

Today is the day

I've lost 25lbs since moving back home to NY in May 2008. In the past 3 weeks or so I've put on another 5lbs. My goal is to lose another 10-12ish-lbs. With the holidays quickly approaching, Girl Scout cookies in the house, cooler temps and craving comfort foods this is going to be a bit difficult.
I've got a really nice elliptical that I've never used and that is going to change. I start today. My goal is to get on the elliptical for at least 30 minutes a day Monday-Thursday. Friday-Sunday will be my days off. I'll do this for a week or two and then bump it up to 45 minutes for a week or two and then up to an hour. I don't know enough about weight loss and exercise to know how this will work for me in my weight loss goals, but I figure it's a start. And really, at this point in the year, I'd be happy to maintain my current weight and not gain anything. :)
My problem is that I'm lazy when it comes to working out at home. I blame it on my physically demanding job...and my comfy couch and cuddly dogs. So I'm turning to my blog to help me. I figure that if I blog every Monday about my workouts and with weekly weigh ins, it just might keep me motivated...knowing that my readers will know if I stuck to it or not.
So (& I can't believe that I'm doing this) starting weekly weigh in is 139.8lbs.

Here's to hoping this works for me!



EDIT(5:40PM) - I FAIL. Apparently I'm in worse shape than I originally thought. I lasted 8:30 on the elliptical today. Looks as though my estimated time spent working out is going to have to be adjusted slightly. Ugh.

The Men Who Stare At Goats

So yesterday we went to see The Men Who Stare At Goats. It was really funny, but much different than I expected. I don't really know how to describe it. Not sure I'd recommend the movie...maybe as a rental. Clooney was hilarious.

Ugh.

I love hate having all of this Halloween candy in my house.
I can't help but eat it when it's around.
That is all.

New Computer

I mentioned a few posts ago that Chase got me a new laptop. We'd been talking about it a while, but I thought that's all it was, talk. I had hoped though that maybe I'd get one for Christmas though. Luckily it did and it arrived in October! We went to Best Buy and Chase had a few computers in mind but wanted me to make the final decision. I ended up choosing a Sony VAIO. I was shocked when he said ok, and we bought it. I thought he was just asking so that he could get it for me later.
Anyways, I love my new laptop! I love Windows 7...although I am still learning my way around. I also love that I can be on the computer downstairs and watch tv/hang out with Chase at the same time.
My laptop is brown. I love brown.

Chunky Apple Cake

At the end of September my mother in law came to visit for a few days. One night we went over to my mom's for dinner. Mom put me in charge of bringing dessert which I was happy to do. I went back to my Betty Crocker Fall Baking book that I made the Apple Streusel Cheesecake Bars from. This time I decided on the Chunky Apple Cake. I enlisted Chase and his mom to peel/cut apples for me. We had waaaaaaay too many and I ate/threw out quite a bit. The recipe turned out pretty good but next time I would bake the cake about 10 minutes less (it was a bit too hard on the outside), I'd ice it while the cake is warm, and I'd poke holes in the cake before icing it so that the icing runs into the cake.

-Ingredients-
Cake
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups AP flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups coarsely chopped peeled baking apples (I used Granny Smith's)
1 cup chopped Walnuts

Frosting
1/2 cup butter (do not use margarine)
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-3 tablespoons milk

-Directions-

1. Heat oven to 350*F. Spray 12 cup fluted tube cake pan with baking spray with flour.
2. In large bowl, beat 1 cup butter and the granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in apples and walnuts. Spoon into pan.
3. Bake 50-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
4. in 2 quart sauce pan, heat 1/2 cup burrer over medium heat, stirring constantly until golden brown. Gradually beat in powdered sugar with spoon. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla and milk until desired spreading consistency. Generously spread frosting over top and partially down side of cake. Cut cake with serrated knife.

Apple Streusel Cheesecake Bars

For my mom's birthday this year (waaaaay back on September 19) we decided to have her and John over for dinner. I made French's Crunchy Onion Chicken, corn on the cob, and zucchini with melted seasoned cheese and crumbled turkey bacin. Dessert was the star though! I know it wasn't quite fall yet, but I love fall baking, and lucky for me so does Mom. I made Apple Streusel Cheesecake bars which I found the recipe for in my Betty Crocker Fall Baking book that I picked up at Wegman's. Everyone loved them and I plan to make them for Thanksgiving at my grandparent's. The recipe was extremely easy and I love that it calls for a can of apple pie filling which means that I didn't have to peel/cut apples. :) Oh and I WILL get a pastry blender before I make this again. The 2 knife method is useless.

-Ingredients-
1 pouch (1lb 1.5oz) Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine
2 packages (8oz) cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons AP flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 can (21oz) apple pie filling
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

-Directions-

1. Heat oven to 350*F. Spray 13x9in pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, place cookie mix. Using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through the mixture in opposite directions), cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture, press remaining crumbs in bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
3. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over partially baked crust. In medium bowl, mix pie filling and cinnamon. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over top. Sprinkle with walnuts.
4. Bake 35-40 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool about 30 minutes. Refrigerate to chill, about 2 hours. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Cover and refrigerate any remaining bars.