As a blogger, aspiring to bring my readers better food, more interesting stories, and drool-worthy photos of my creations, I look to other bloggers who do what I want to do, but do it better. They are like virtual mentors whose posts I pour over, and get excited about when I see them in my inbox. They are the bloggers whose nearly every recipe ends up in my “to make” box.

One of these bloggers is Jenny from Nourished Kitchen.  To me, she is a marvel – she makes delicious, nutrient dense foods, using practices our great grandparents did – making fermented vegetables, cultured dairy products, and using real butter, full fat raw milk and real bacon! While raising a family AND managing her local farmers market! I have been working to eat more and more this way over the past months, and I always look to Jenny’s delicious blog for inspiration. She is a wealth of information and really one of the most gracious bloggers I have been in contact with.

So it is with excitement that I am announcing her awesome e-course! After hearing over and over again from her readers a need for a simple, but thorough way to better incorporate local foods and back-to-basics, traditional cooking into their kitchens, she began work on this e-course. Through this interactive 12-week program Jenny will show you the ropes to making delicious , good for you food that won’t break your back, or your budget, that is usually local, organic and in season. This is the time to start your own Food Revolution, faithful readers! If you aren’t convinced, take a look at these amazing dishes:

Are you drooling yet? If so, here are the details on the e-course! Don’t forget Class begins June 1, 2010, and registration closes on May 31st!!! So you need to act fast!

What You’ll Get

• 12 Comprehensive, Multi-media Online Classes
• Video Tutorials Teaching You How to Cook Real Food
• Digital Workbook to Take Notes & Develop Your Own Recipes
• Charts Outlining Seasonally Available Foods
• Fact Sheets and Handy Tips Analyzing the Value of Real Food
• Online Discussion Forum for Members Only
• Menu Planning Tips & Sample Meal Plans
• Sample Shopping Lists and Equipment Recommendations
• SPECIAL BONUS: Discouts & Coupons from Companies I Trust

Get in now!

You’ll Learn How to:

• Shop for whole, unrefined local foods in season.
• Maximize nutrition and minimize cost.
• Plan meals that will help you stick to your food budget.
• Bake organic whole grain bread for a fraction of the cost of store-bought.
• Save a mint making homemade yogurt, cheese and pickles.
• Make use of cheaper cuts of meat with slow cooking.
• Make healthy homemade soda for just pennies a gallon.

The Lesson Overview

Lesson #1: What is Real Food & Where to Find It
Lesson #2: Eat Whole Grain
Lesson #3: Homemade Sourdough Bread
Lesson #4: Homemade Salad Dressings
Lesson #5: Prepare Seasonal Vegetables
Lesson #6: Make Real Pickles
Lesson #7: Roasted & Slow-cooked Meats
Lesson #8: Stocks, Broths & Soups
Lesson #9: Easy Homemade Yogurt & Cheese
Lesson #10: Soda & Soft Drink Alternatives
Lesson #11: Naturally Sweet Desserts
Lesson #12: Menus & Meal Planning

Check out Jenny’s eCourse here, watch a promo video, and find out how to register.  Class begins June 1, 2010, and registration closes May 31st!!! Every weekly course is at your leisure, at your own computer screen, and they’re all supported by a forum where you can ask Jenny and other participants questions.  There are limited spaces available.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Nourished Kitchen’s online eCourse, so I will be earning a commission from any sales made after clicking a link in this post.  This e-course it taking the blogosphere by storm, with many affiliates, so if you’re going to sign up for Jenny’s course (and you’re not one of her faithful readers), it would be appreciated to start here with my link.

United Irishmen Flag

Well it’s better late than never, I say. Just think of this post as a jump start to next year’s celebration!

These last few months have been very exciting for me. I recently discovered that along with my new found English ancestry (and a few other Northern European ancestries) and in the company of millions of other Americans, I may have some ancestral roots in Ireland. I am still learning about where it comes from, which has been a very fun process for me and has revived in me my love of anthropology and population migrations. I am not sure how much I will ever really know about my heritage, being adopted with no ancestry history, but it looks like there is a strong Northern Irish connection from all my research so far. So this year, I decided that I want to explore these cultures in my ancestral line through the foods of these lands, and St. Patrick’s day seemed like a good place to start, in good company.

I am not Christian, so for me, my St. Patrick’s celebration is not religious or political, but more of a general Celtic heritage and cultural celebration. It should be no surprise that I have Celtic ancestry, as I have always loved Celtic music (even teaching myself to play the fiddle) and culture, and Scottish and Irish desserts have been among my favorites for years. So I felt like even with its religious roots, this would be a good a time as any to celebrate the rich culture and heritage of Ireland with so many others!

Some Irish Feast Ingredients: Fresh Organic Eggs, Organic Cream and Guinness plus Homemade Buttermilk and Whiskey and Aquavit Soaked Raisins

I wanted to celebrate by cooking some semi- “traditional” dishes, and to challenge myself by cooking with Guinness! So the menu is as follows :

*Guinness Stew
*Sautéed Cabbage in a Mustard Glaze
*Brown Soda Bread
*Guinness Ice Cream

Everything is made from scratch, including the buttermilk in the soda bread. The meal turned out great, and I would certainly make any of these dishes again, for St. Pat’s or any other day.

Brown Soda Bread

I was inspired by several different recipes for this meal, and it all started with Jenny’s Brown Soda Bread Recipe .

As many who follow this blog know, I have been tweaking various bread recipes these past many months, so that the flour can be soaked for at least 12 hours before baking ( to find out why click here ). Jenny is a master at this kind of cooking, even recently being featured on CNN for her Real Food Challenge . When I saw her soda bread recipe, I knew I had to make it.

Guinness Stew

From there, the idea for an Irish feast began. I didn’t have a lot of time this year to research “corning” my own beef brisket , so to speak (maybe next year). So I decided to go with something a bit more in my comfort zone – beef stew with a beef and Guinness broth.

I love sautéed cabbage, and since it was on sale at the grocery store, I decided to grab a head and figure out what to do with it later. As I was cooking the stew, an idea for a delicious spicy mustard and honey glaze was concocted in my mind! I will definitely be making cabbage this way again!

Creamy Guinness Ice Cream without white sugar

I had also been wanting to try this recipe for Guinness Ice Cream for about 2 years. However, I did modify it, to make it more healthy by omitting the 2 cups of sugar called for in the original recipe and using date sugar and maple syrup to sweeten it, instead. I also omitted the brown bread, however I may have to add it in the future, because it sounds yummy!

This was a wonderful celebration to begin to connect with some of my ancestral roots and share it with my awesome and supportive family. Thanks Guys! Hope my readers enjoy this menu as much as we did! Recipes under the cut…

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(Jenn with Rocio of Applecheek Farm AT Applecheek Farm)

Recently when we were in Vermont finalizing some things before the big move this April, we were able to take in another wonderful Localvore Dinner at Applecheek Farm. We went to our first Localvore Dinner when we were in Vermont last November, and it was a fun night filled with great food and music. So we were looking forward to being able to attend another one during this visit to Northern Vermont.

Between the months of November and February, I have become Twitter and Facebook buddies with the folks at Applecheek, and have really enjoyed getting to know Rocio and John better through our internet connection, at the dinners, and during frequent stops to the farm when we have been in town. The internet is really an amazing tool for networking with other people who are passionate about the same things you are, and those Applecheekers are certainly passionate about local, sustainable agriculture, something I am becoming increasingly passionate about. Roberto and I are looking forward to learning more about the farm, and all the wonderful things they offer there once we are living in Vermont.

Going to Localvore Dinners at Applecheek is a way to meet and chat with your neighbors while dining on foods produced locally by your neighbors. This time we had a great time meeting Rocio and John’s children, as well as some other neighbors doing interesting things, like Nathan of FollowNathan.org(definitely check him out – he rode almost 5,000 across country on a bike learning about sustainable agriculture – talk about cool neighbors!). There is always local music, and before the dinner starts, there is always a short talk about what is new at the farm, and new in agriculture that affects everyone, both locally and at the national level. This last evening we were happy to hear that the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) bill was not passed and to learn more about the Consumer-Farmer Alliance that is working together to keep sustainable agriculture alive while giving the consumer(as opposed to the government) the right to decide what products (like raw milk products) they want to purchase from local farms. It is always informative and a great way to learn more about how you can participate in Farm to Table initiatives.

As interesting as those talks always are, we all look forward to the delicious food that Chef Jason from JDC (Just Delicious Catering) cooks up!!! Applecheek is a real family farm and has been in the Clark family for generations. Chef Jason is the brother of John. John runs the farm operations and Jason is the chef!

On this night the menu was the following:

* Homemade Kimchee made with veggies from the chef’s garden – I found it perfectly spiced and crunchy

* Poutine – a French Canadian specialty of French fried potatoes and homemade gravy with cheese curds from just across the border (literally 20 miles) in Quebec. This was the BIG hit of the night. Our whole table was talking about it.

* Root Vegetable Cassoulet made with veggies from the chef’s garden – Delicious!

* VT Soy Tofu Skewers marinated in Rock Art Brewery Beer (made one town over) and spices – I didn’t try it, due to my soy allergy, but it looks like others enjoyed it!

* Turkey Casserole with Herb and Cheddar Crust made from Applecheek Farms turkey and veggies from the chef’s garden – fantastic! I am a HUGE fan of Applecheek’s turkeys ***

* Cheddar Ale Soup – chock full of delicious farm fresh potatoes and local cheese

* Carrot Cake with Crème Fraîche Icing – a wonderful way to end the night with a nice glass of raw milk!

* Farm fresh Raw Milk, Hot Apple Cider and Water to drink

You can also BYO to the Applecheek dinners. Roberto and I decided to try a bottle of Otter Creek’s Russian Stout. Otter Creek is a brewery in Middlebury VT. It is a historic beer that was made in England especially for the Russian Czars. It is a beautiful robust and dark beer with distinct chocolate notes. It was a great choice with this wonderfully hearty winter dinner.

There was a pretty big snowstorm up on the hill that night and the wind was blowing in gusts as you looked out the windows during dinner. But the hall was warm, full of music, laughter and the perfect comfort foods, keeping the chill out.

We had a great night chatting with everyone at our table, and even got the opportunity at the end of the night to enjoy some of John’s homebrew – a wonderful fermented maple sap drink that he made using ancient brewing techniques. Something I am also interested in trying my hand at somewhere down the road.

My wheels are turning – I am thinking perhaps making elderberry mead from our own bees and elderberries (that we still don’t have, but hopefully will one day)….but that is what happens when you are out in the country, your life has more space for learning new hobbies and skills, and the sky is the limit.

This is a great dish to serve your loved one(s) for Valentine’s day. The flavors are unique, as are some of the ingredients which makes it a special kind of meal. Yet at the same time it is quite easy to prepare – the oven does most of the work. It is like fancied soul food.

Lately, I have been trying to familiarize myself with artisan brews. For years, like a lot of people, I thought I just didn’t like beer. But I have come to find that once in a while, I do enjoy a bit of the bubbly. I prefer unique brews, generally dark porters and stouts, and I love British style hard cider (which isn’t beer either…), but sometimes a lighter beer catches my fancy. I have always been fascinated with the Ancient world, especially in Northern Europe. The myths, stories and legends of Scotland, England, Ireland, Brittany in Northern France, and Scandinavia have always been my favorites. Of course due to my food obsession, I have also been curious about ancient feasts – the foods and cuisines.

Years ago I found an amazing ale, the likes of which has been made in Scotland for over 4,000 years. This ale is brewed with heather flowers and Scottish malt and has a very floral flavor. It is quite refreshing and crisp, and goes really well with roasted chicken. It can also be enjoyed on it’s own, or with really earthy cheeses, like raw cow or sheep milk cheeses, which often have a grassy quality to them.

In light of recently finding out a bit more about my biological ancestry, I decided that it would be fun to start exploring more of the foods and dishes of Northern Europe (perhaps that explains my long held fascination with that area of the world, and its history). I also happened upon a pack of Fraoch, Scottish Heather Ale,and felt inspired to make roasted whole chicken legs and root veggies with a heather ale sauce. In honor of our upcoming move to Vermont, I also added some maple syrup to enhance the sweetness of the ale, and used Herbs de Provence to enhance the floral qualities. I can honestly say the result was one of the best dishes I have made in a while. If I had known how good this was going to be, I would have made it for Valentine’s Day. It is definitely special enough for that. Thank you kitchen muses for this wonderful meal! Sometimes, hobbies and interest outside of the kitchen, can really inspire us, IN the kitchen. This dish is certainly a testament to that.

For dessert, be sure to try my Spicy Mayan Hot Chocolate . It is a recipe from my e-book The Secret Energy of Love Through Food .

Here is a sweet way that you can give a little this Valentine’s Day – I will be giving all the proceeds for the book, during the month of February, to blogger efforts on behalf of Haiti relief.

Half will go to H2Ope for Haiti (a way to raise funds to supply water to Haiti by BloggerAid-CFF) and the other half will go to

Stir It  28 for Haiti

So please buy a copy today!  And please spread the word! This is a perfect cookbook  for Valentine’s Day and any day to share a delicious meal with any loved one!

You can also send a donation directly to Stir It 28 by going to Bren’s blog There is a Paypal donation box on the upper right hand side and to H2ope for Haiti by going to this Justgiving Page .

Recipe under the cut…

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Brunello di Montalcino is a very special wine variety made in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is known the world over as being a very good wine. Our friends Erin and Chris, who lived for a year in Florence, had a bottle that they wanted to share with us. They had fond memories of a night in Florence that they spent with friends savoring a bottle of this wine, and wanted to spend another evening like that with us! So of course we were game and very excited to taste wine from a very different bracket than what we are used to.

Since they were bringing such a nice bottle, I offered to find some tasty morsels to go along with the wine, so we could have a proper Aperitivo – or the Italian version of Happy Hour! If you would like to learn more about Aperitivo, please check out Ms. Adventures in Italy. Sarah has a great passion for Aperitivo and has great tips on how you can have your own – or where to go for the best ones in her hometown of Milano!

I knew this was a special wine, so I enlisted the help of a professional to come up with food ideas to compliment it. With the help of my buddy, Vince DiPiazza (no known relation – though I am sure there is one somehow, not many of us DiPiazza’s in the world) from D’Italia – an online specialty store of food products from Italy, we came up with a menu of aperitivi, or small plates:

Variety of cheeses of different flavor profiles served with Rosemary Grissini and Garbanzo Crackers

Parmigiano-Reggiano is Italy’s most famous cheese, known as Parmesan in the English language. We know it well as a cheese for grating on top of pasta. However, if you eat it in cubes, it is a whole other experience. The cheese is made from raw cow’s milk, it is then put into a brine bath for 20-25 days to absorb salt, and then aged for 12 months. My favorite part (and Erin’s too) are the little crunchies you get in a good Parmigiano – the crunchies are bits of crystallized salt.

Morbier is a raw cow’s milk cheese from France. It is a Gruyère-like cheese with a vein of ash running through its middle. The two layers of the cheese originally came from two milkings, one in the morning and one in the evening, over it with a protective thin layer of tasteless ash, both to prevent it from both drying out and to keep away the flies. The next day, they would add the leftover curd from the morning milking and production. The result was a two-layered cheese.

Goat Fromage Blanc is from a batch of the pasteurized goat milk cheese that I made recently. I added some basil and a little dried dill – as well as a few sun-dried tomatoes (Vince said they pair well with Brunello) stirred in.

Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar is one of our favorite cheeses, and we decided to add it at the last minute. It never tastes the same from one batch to the next. It is the cheese variety that Cabot used to sell to hunters and truckers…on their way out of town. Chris said it tasted like ham to him, which as a vegetarian, was a weird experience. This cheese is amazing paired with a sweet bread and butter style pickle.

Miscellaneous Treats

Sautéed Mushrooms
Hummus
Assorted Nuts
Assorted Olives
Pickles

Dessert

French Truffles
Chocolate covered mint cremes

*********************************

The Tasting :

When Erin and Chris arrived we opened the bottle to give it about 20 minutes to breathe. We decided to do the tasting in two stages, the first without food, and then one with food. We each had a piece of paper and a pen. We spent about 5-10 minutes sniffing and tasting the wine, and individually writing our impressions of both the nose and the taste without sharing.

NOSE:

Erin: cheese – brie, sweet chocolate, metal
Chris: robust, dank – wet wood or earth, finishes smoky
Roberto: cherries
Jenn: woody, tannins, blackberry/cherry

TASTE:

Erin: milk chocolate, cheddar, old smoke – like what your clothes smell like after a BBQ or fire
Chris: pungent, truffles, finishes with citrus (mild burn, fruity end) and something like ginger, but not quite ginger
Roberto: old fermenting cherries, blueberry and ends with citrus
Jenn: black pepper, herbal/smoky, cherry

After we shared our observations, we found it interesting that both the guys had noticed a citrus end, while the ladies had both noticed a smoky taste. Is it coincidence, or do males and females taste wine differently?

Once we headed over to the food, and had a second glass with food, we all agreed that the wine tasted much sweeter, and it was at that point that Erin and I noticed a bit of a citrus taste.

It was a really fun night. I can’t say that I have ever really enjoyed wine in this way, and I think it is a really great way to spend the evening with friends. We decided we had so much fun, that we definitely need to do it again, with different wines and food pairings.

Thanks everyone for all your great comments recently – especially as it pertains to my two posts on year 2010 goals. I think we all have goals, but for me, putting it out there and in some sense therefore being more accountable makes it more fun – and more of a challenge for me! So thanks for all your lovely comments and feedback!

In my last post, as it pertains to one of my food goals for this year, I told you I was going to post a recipe for creamy tomato soup that I prepared in my Vitamix for lunch last week. I was lucky enough to receive one of these AWESOME machines from my lovely husband for my birthday. I have been wanting one for over 3 years, and this year, I guess I was a good girl! These machines are not cheap, but they do take the place of a blender, food processor and grinder (you can actually grind coffee beans in it) all in one. In fact you can make fresh fruit and veggie juice in it too – not pulpy but rich and creamy from all the natural fibers – the blades are that powerful. You can even make a kind of ice milk or fruity dessert in it as well.

We have really been enjoying all the above mentioned treats have we make with it, especially our nightly smoothies, but one of the things I love the most about the Vitamix is that is actually MAKES soup – I mean you don’t even have to cook it – the heat created from the friction of the ultra fast blades heats it up! So you literally have soup in 5 minutes.

Here is what I did:

INGREDIENTS:

1 box of Pomi strained tomatoes
1 ½ organic roasted red peppers (jarred)
dash of organic heavy cream
salt
freshly ground pepper
dried oregano
dried basil

I put all of this in the Vitamix and let her rip. In about 3-4 minutes you could see the steam coming out of the lid, telling me that it was done. That’s IT. The soup was so rich and creamy. The taste of the black pepper was very prominent – I guess it go so pulverized that it really infused the entire soup. I put a dollop of homemade yogurt on top and it was a wonderful, filling and super healthy lunch full of one of my favorite things – Lycopene, because it is oh so good. So go ahead and enjoy some tomato soup today!

On another note my friend Betherann from Kitchen Courage gifted me with a Beautiful Blogger Award and asked me to share 7 things about myself. So here they are:

1) I just took a DNA test for ancestry and health. I am adopted and know nothing at all about my birth family, my ethnic heritage or the types of health problems that run in the family. I have been waiting 33 years for this – and decided to finally do it. If we are facebook friends, keep checking my status update for how you can be involved in this life changing event! Trust me, it’ll be fun!

2) My favorite flower is the Thistle.

3) If I never had asparagus again in my life, I wouldn’t miss it.

4) I believe in life you have to be willing to take risks in order to realize your full potential.

5) My favorite color is Rust – which is why I probably love eating pumpkin, squash and sweet potatoes so much!

6) I spent a year in Norway and speak some Norwegian  – I used to be fluent – but it has been 15 years!

7) I am a very accurate and passionate archer – makes sense since I am a Sagittarius!

I am really excited to announce that over the next 10 weeks, I along with many of my fellow food bloggers spanning the globe, are taking part in Ten in 2010. #10in10 is the brainchild of Lori from Recipe Girl. I think it is a great idea for those who want support in getting a jump on their health and fitness goals this year, whatever they are. If you are already on your way, or just starting, this is a great group to join!

I have really been working on “getting healthy” over the past year. For those of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook, you know I talk about my fitness goals a lot. It never used to be that way. I used to be “allergic to exercise”, and try to find any other route to look the way I wanted to, that didn’t involve exercise. But when we decided we wanted to move back to VT, and raise animals and garden, I knew I had to get some strength. It started out as my New Year’s Resolution for 2009 – this would give myself over a year to get there. But what I found, was a new passion! Now, my day just isn’t right if I don’t sweat a little But you will never find me in a gym (unless I am doing martial arts). I have been hunting for regular exercise and strength training that I can do with as little equipment as possible and that I truly enjoy. If possible, ones that teach me a skill while getting exercise in at the same time- factors I know will keep me on track, personally. One of my goals is to get into a fitness routine – that doesn’t feel like a fitness routine, but is FUN!

But what does “getting healthy” mean? And how does one get there? And what does this have to do with food blogging?

First, “getting healthy” means different things to different people. For me, it means building endurance. It means having an increased measure and reserve of energy (I tend to be a low-energy person) so I can do the things I love without being tired. It means being balanced emotionally. It means having the ability to lift heavy things without hurting myself. It means being able to enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, and possibly snowshoeing without extremely taxing myself or holding back fellow participants. It means, conditioning my body to be able to handle the manual labor that comes with farm work. It also means giving my body the best chance I can to live to 100 years old, staying off prescription drugs and staying away from the doctor as much as possible. It also means having arms like Sarah Connor and being able to outrun the Terminators

How you get there, is by doing a lot of research, making a very specific plan for yourself based on what you want to achieve, and sticking to it. It also means having the right fuel for your body. That is where the connection to food blogging comes in. This year I am freeing myself of buzzwords. Finding a new set of rules that works for me and my body – beyond low-fat, low-carb, sugar-free, protein packed, and all this terminology that is supposed to get you to optimal health and fitness, which never worked for me anyway. Besides humans were fit and healthy before any of this stuff was imagined into existence. So we have the capability to do that again!

I am not a big fan of protein bars/shakes as an everyday thing. I don’t like the word “diet”, I like “lifestyle change”.  I will never eat a diet meal plan that come out of a box, jar, or plastic square, and I certainly don’t like low-fat, low-sugar foods, which are generally a key word for “full of chemicals”. So my diet is not likely to change from the kinds of foods I have been blogging about over the past several months. It is important for me to continue to make foods from scratch, using whole foods that make me feel good and give me the energy to go on. Since this is a large part of what being healthy means to me, I won’t sacrifice real, nourishing foods, for the sake of “getting healthy”. To me, it is an oxymoron.

This summer I tried the low-fat, 1300 calories/day avenue and it did not work for me. I was tracking my caloric intake and calculating grams of protein, fat, and carbs. I was trying to lose about 5-8 lbs of fat, while at the same time gaining muscle. I went to a personal trainer and followed their diet and exercise plan, which required eliminating 20 grams of fat per day from my diet. After 2 weeks I started getting really clumsy, I was bruising easier, I lost productivity with my work. I was losing things. My digestion was bad. I was also very emotional and mentally exhausted. This is the very opposite of my definition of “healthy”. It was then that I realized how much my brain needed fat – good fat – things like nuts, fish oil, olive oil, avocados, eggs, cheese, yogurt and kefir –items which cannot be consumed in regular amounts while trying to stay under 30 grams of fat per day (since those calculators don’t differentiate between good and bad fats). My body also thrives on protein, but gets bogged down with a lot of grains – which is not the same thing as carbs.

I am not a doctor, nor am I certified to tell people how they should pursue their own health goals. I am speaking from my own experience when I say everyone’s body is individual and responds differently to exercise and food. So sometimes it takes a while to reach your goals – because first you have to figure out how to get there. So don’t get frustrated! You can get there! Sometimes it is easier, and sometimes you gotta work for it a little harder!

So here marks the second year on my journey to health. I will continue with weight lifting, calisthenics and cardio. I will also continue with archery. However, I will let go of Martial Arts (for now), as we just don’t have time for everything, something has to give, and this year, it will not be my sanity! I will add kettle bells to my routine and some outdoor activities, especially once we move to Vermont in April.

My goals for this 10 week challenge are:

* Bicep curl sets (3 sets of 10) w/ 20 lb free weights (one 20 lb. dumb bell per arm) – currently I am at 15 lbs.

* One unassisted pull-up – Currently I can do 7 assisted (with a chair under me)

*Turn upper/ inner leg flab to muscle – my biggest problem area

* Lose one pant size

How am I going to do this?

* I will continue my healthy eating plan – but instead of almost daily ice cream treats, I will enjoy a smoothie from my Vitamix 80 % of the time, instead.

* I will not succumb to bread, pasta and grain ladened foods. Instead choosing to eat exclusively veggie pastas like corn, or jerusalem artichoke, and enjoy my grasses like buckwheat and quinoa.

* I will exercise 4-5x/wk, for 30-45 minutes per session – either doing weight lifting, kettle bells, a cardio routine, outdoor activities, practicing martial arts at home, or a combination thereof.

* I will go to range 3x/month to continue with archery training.

Thank you Lori for putting this together for everyone! It is a great way to start the new year and get the support of others!

To read more about the challenge and see how is participating, check out this link!

Happy Yuletide!

Today marks the day of the Winter Solstice, which means we are in the full swing of the winter holiday season! So if you are like me, you have been attending lots of holiday parties and gatherings. Some of you, like me, may also have some dietary restrictions that keep you from enjoying food at many parties. Or perhaps some of you are trying to watch what you eat during the holiday season or maybe you are tired of going to the grocery store everyday for more food! My advice for you, is when you are asked to bring a dish to a party – keep that in mind. Make sure that you make something you can enjoy from what you have on hand and if you are still worried you will be hungry at the party, have a little snack before you go!

For me, grains are my biggest battle. I can tolerate them if I soak them, but even at that, I try not to overdo it. Sometimes, I may risk the consequences and just go for it, but other times, I try to do the best I can to avoid those foods and with all the parties I have been attending as of late, I have already been overdoing it. Our friends Chris and Erin, who host a weekly community dinner, had a Christmas dress up party theme for last week. Of course, because of my love for reindeer, Roberto and I went sporting antlers and painted noses. I also brought along a nice layered dip – that was both grain free and veggie friendly – since there are a lot of vegetarians at these community dinners and made from stuff I had in the pantry and fridge.

My fridge is a disaster right now and I really didn’t want to go out and buy a huge list of ingredients for this dish. So I looked in the fridge and pantry. I had some canned beans (I am trying to get rid of those – kept on hand for this year’s Hurricane Season) and some salsa and guacamole from Wholly Guac which I received from a PR firm that is sponsoring a giveaway this month on Foodieblogroll.com (you still have until Friday for your chance to win an awesome prize package!!! ). So I ran out to the store just to get some shredded cheese and FAGE Greek yogurt (in place of sour cream), and tortilla chips and I was all set!

The dip was a huge hit and I thought it looked rather festive with all the reds and greens! I am wishing all my readers and fellow bloggers a safe, happy and healthy holiday season. Whatever holiday you celebrate – or even if you don’t celebrate, I hope you have a great week leading up to the New Year! I may not be blogging much between now and the new year. So have a happy, happy, jolly, jolly season!

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