Slacker. That's Me!

I've been not playing much. I've been addicted to that silly Stumble Upon button. My tabs on my browser are full of recipes for things I may never make. Here, I'll even share them with you!

From Blogchef.net, we have General Tso's Chicken. It looks just as yummy as the dish I had recently at a local fancy schmancy chinese restaurant. Thinking about trying to make it myself, of course, but will the kids eat it?

From Hungry-girl.com, a couple of pages on how to make lighter and still yummy versions of Starbucks favorites. Cafe Vanilla Frapuccino and Tazo Green Tea Frapuccino. There was another page open on what ingredients to buy to make about any flavor frapuccino your little heart desired, but I have since closed it. Try looking around that site. There are all sorts of calorie saving stuff to om-nom-nom on! Bonus, this gal has a cook book out, of sorts. Heard her on the Bill Handel show on KFI, so this isn't a stumble so much as it was a fact finding search.

From SmittenKitchen.com, a recipe for some really delicious looking orange peel treats. Chocolate and orange go so well together. And this way, I can eat the orange while I wait. Yeah, like I need one of those before I pack on all the pounds from that candy. I should really stop stumbling when I am hungry!

I was just thinking the other day that I have changed the way I shop for groceries. I used to be so careful about keeping a coupon file and finding the absolute best deals I could. I had stockpiles of shampoo, deodorant, and soap, all got for free or nearly free with double coupons. I guess I just gave up once stores stopped doubling. I stumbled upon A Full Cup a few days ago and I'm sure I'll be getting back to my old habits soon. I cannot afford, and neither can you, to pass up saving money on things we use every day.

Do your friends stop by to watch sports regularly? Or do you have hungry teenagers? I have the latter, as sports was never on the television when I was growing up, and I married a guy who enjoys the same kind of sports I do (the "e" kind). These pizza bites look easy to make and the writer at Chaos in the Kitchen says they freeze well.

Cookies. These won the Pillsbury Million Dollar Bake Off. The Noble Pig posts and in depth how to on just how to make these yummy looking double peanut butter cookies. All they need some Ice Cold Milk!

This isn't a yummy looking cake. In fact, I would say if someone put this on my table, it would go directly in the garbage bin. My guild is full of cat lovers, and when I stumbled on this one, I had to share it. Maybe this one will end up on one of my kids birthday party tables. Grave Addiction has my thanks for putting up a definitely different cake.

Well, it's the first day of Spring Break for me, and it seems my day has been planned out for me. Off I go to clean the living room, feed the toddler, and assemble something that is sitting in a large box on my porch. If it adjusts short enough, I may get another set to assemble, whatever it is. I'm such a lucky girl!

Some Resolutions For The New Year

It's time to resolve to do, and not do.

Before I get into what mine are, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and remind you to find a designated driver and chain them to your hip tonight! Have fun out there, but not so much that you forget to act responsibly.

Now, my resolutions are few. I have my one eighty. I am happy with her.

Number 1- Take time off for a walk or to play Wii fit with the kids at least 4 times a week. For some reason they really like to do the jogging game with me. Weird kids...

Number 2- Pug more often. I need to develop a thicker skin. Most of my guild before this expansion hit had pugged places in many raids. My skills and gear when they started this were comparable. Priest For Hire. Yup, that's gonna be me!

Number 3- Blog more often. I have noticed on a good week I may post 3 times. There are many weeks I don't post at all. Perhaps I can tie this one in with number one, and dictate my post to my mp3 player as I jog. In between huffs and puffs.

Number 4- Lure the hubby back into game with whatever I can, and find a way to keep him playing with me. Anyone got any suggestions?

Number 5- Cook dinner more often. I think I'll aim for 4 times a week, with at least once on the weekend. Tuesday and Thursday nights are leftover nights, for obvious reasons (are they obvious? Tuesday is reset day, and Thursday is day 2 of raiding. for some reason our guild had a hard time getting Wednesdays going).

That's it. Too many and I feel bad that I didn't accomplish all of them. Keep it short and simple, and you're more likely to succeed!

Happy New Year everyone!

Gaming and Fitness: Do they mix well?

A week ago I got from the UPS guy a box that I hope holds the secret to getting me off my rear and back into shape; Wii Fit. I have been hopelessly hooked on anything that involves a controller or a mouse and keyboard for a few years, and my waistline is showing the stress. We bought a Wii for the kids, because it has many titles that can be played by 4 players, which is just over half of the amount of kids we have here on any given day. When my husband heard about the Wii Fit, he thought it might be something I would like. After all, it involves some skill, and learning a new controller, the balance board. So, naturally, when I got it, I couldn't wait to hook it up, which is why it sat for a whole week in its shipping box. I was busy! Really...

So today, while the kids were cleaning their rooms and helping clean out the pool in anticipation of the swim season, I pulled the box out from behind the easy chair and opened it up. Nintendo made sure I didn't need much thought to put this together, as it involved 4 AA batteries, 4 extender feet (because I would be using it on a carpeted surface), and a disc. Piece of cake, I was up and running in 5 minutes. Or actually, I was doing yoga. Running didn't happen for another ten minutes, but I'll explain that later.

First, it has you sync the balance board with the unit. Push red button on unit, then push red button in battery compartment of board. Having done that, the next step was to step on the board, pick a Mii, answer some height and age questions, and let the board weigh me and check how my center of balance was. I won't tell you the results (I'm still in denial), but the Fit system adjusted the size of my Mii to match. EWW! So now I am looking at this great Mii I made, twice as fat, and reading along with the narrator as she goes on to have me choose a trainer and start my exercises. I did some Yoga positions first, which had a helpful yellow circular area I had to keep a red dot inside of during the excercise, and an aqua circle that expanded when in exhaling and shrunk when inhaling. Not extremely easy, as I am carrying a bit of extra baggage now, but I did well, and earned some points toward unlocking new exercises. The yoga exercises done, I moved on to aerobics. I played hula hoop, did a step routine (which is harder than it looks!), and ran a short course which left me puffing a little. Then I ran against one of the kids in a 2 person short run. Darned kid, she kept passing the instructor and leaving me in the dust! Good thing they weren't tracking her progress!

I didn't get to the strength training, but I tried a few balance exercises. Skiing was fun, but the tightrope walk I unlocked was just not fun(probably because I fell to my death?) There was a tilt board game where you use the board to tip boards to make marbles fall through holes. It took a bit of concentration, but I finished with a whole 3 seconds to spare! YAY ME!

I may let you all in on my Wii Fit encounters as I go. I have set a goal, which the system says is a healthy one, to lose 3 pounds in two weeks. One small step in regaining my pre-children figure. Comments are welcome..cheer me on! I need all the encouragement I can get.

A comic to wrap up from Zoitz.com which really puts it all in a nutshell... I'll just link it, take a look for yourself!