Bucket List

Through pinterest I discovered this awesome BucketList site Before I Die. The amount of time I could waste on this site is endless. I thought I would share some of my Bucket List choices..

I could go on and on...check out my pinterest board for more.

What are some of your bucket list items??

B

Honey and Walnut Salmon

I managed to find another piece of salmon hanging out in our freezer so I got to test out a new recipe.

Honey and Walnut Salmon

(adapated from The Girl Who Eats Everything)

4 tsp walnuts or pecans

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp soy sauce

4 salmon fillets

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine the first 3 ingredients in a bowl. Sprinke fish with salt and pepper (I omitted this step...I forgot and didn't think it needed it). Place fish in a baking dish then spread marinade onto fish. *I would recommend covering the dish with tin foil before placing the fish and marinade in.

Cover and marinate in fridge for at least 15 minutes.

Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until fish is flakey. *When the fish was almost done baking I lowered the temperature a bit as the honey was really starting to burn.

I served this with salad and rice. Allen and I both really liked the fish. I think next time I may chop the nuts finer so they stay on the fish better.

I would definately recommend trying this recipe though!

B

Best Workout Songs

After reading my friend Morgan's blog about crossfit and good music...I thought I would give you some more recommendationsas well.

First thing, this is just a little something to make you wanna dance!

Now onto the music..

"Levels" by Avicii

"Jeopardy" by Sultan and Ned Shepard

"Feel It" by Ferry Corsten

"Call My Name" by Sultan and Ned Shepard

"Save the World" by Swedish House Mafia

"Champagne Showers" by LMFAO

"T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)" by Wil.I.Am, JLo and Mick Jagger

Hope this gives you a little something to get you moving at the gym...on the run...or at home.

B

Great weekend

All and all this weekend was great. Friday night, Allen and I had a xmas party to go to. It was a blast dancing the night away!

Saturday evening I got together with some of my besties in Nanaimo for a gift/cookie swap. We had to make our presents this year. It was awesome! I have incredibly crafty and creative friends!

Today was filled with grocery shopping, xmas shopping and cleaning. Allen and I did find time to take Emma for a walk on the beach. It was a gorgeous day for that!

Emma had a blast!

I can't believe Christmas is coming up so fast! Tomorrow I am doing some more Christmas baking for my students...then gym time! After work tomorrow I will be getting together with our neighbors to do somemore baking!!! Cannot wait!! I will pass on some of the recipes tomorrow.

I'm off now to go watch the Survivor finale. GO OZZY!

B



Best Molasses Cookies EVER

I am going to pass on an amazing cookie recipe in todays post.

Before I get to that I wanted to show you something awesome...

Surprise Christmas presents from tutoring students and my bosses! I got some delicious chocolates, hot chocolate and lots of starbucks cards. I totally wasn't expecting anything so it was super cool to get these nice gifts!!

The other night I decided to use a packaged curry mix that I got for Christmas last year. You can buy these packages at alot of craft fairs...

All I had to do was add crushed tomatoes and chicken then bake.

The verdict?

It was okay....

The rice didn't cook through enough..there were some interesting tastes...all in all it was kinda a bust! I think I will stick to making my own curry next time.

Finally,here it is...the best molasses spice cookies ever!!!

Source

Since finding this recipe I have made 3 batches of them. Allen said these may be the best cookies I have ever made! I am making these for a cookie swap with some lovely friends...as well as sending these cookies home with some of my students for xmas!!

YOU MUST TRY THESE COOKIES!!!!

Happy Baking!

B

Crossfit

I have been trying very hard to find a fitness plan that works for my lifestyle. Since September I have been working hard on a running program so that I could run a 5k last week with some lovely ladies. 



We missed you Courtney!!



Along with running, Allen and I have been doing crossfit routines at the firehall gym. One of the other firefighters is in charge of fitness so he has put up a couple crossfit routines.

Here's one that we tried:

Warm Up:

10 push ups x3

10 sit ups x3

10 pullups x3*

*I cant do pullups yet so I just skip this step. 

10 squads x3

The workout:

7 kettleball swings

7 burpees

7 step ups*

*I can't remember exactly what this was called but basically I step up and off a weight bench.

You have 10 minutes to see how many times you can do this circuit. I recommen blasting some loud, pump up music and just giver on this!!

Source

After trying that crossfit routine, I was itching to find some additional ideas. Through the wonders of pinterest I found this crossfit routine. This link is great for giving a break down week by week to get into shape. I adapted it for me.

Here's what it looked like:

12 forward lunges

10 pushups

10 lunge jumps

10 squats

10 tricep dips

10 burpees

You have 8 minutes to complete this workout.

I think I got through it 2 1/2 times before time was up. Even Allen said his legs were feeling it. I totally recommend trying these workouts or find your own.

*If you aren't sure what all the exercises look like just youtube it :)

Source

Have you tried crossfit before? Any good workouts?

B

Some catching up

So now that I am back to the blogging I feel like I have a million things to catch you up on. I figured today I would let you know some things that I am loving.

First thing I am loving...winter!

Allen, Emma and I have been spending alot of time in the snow lately! We have been going up to the nearby mountain to play in the snow.

Secondly, I have to go off about some great books that I have read lately.

HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins.

I cannot express how amazing this book was. I couldn't put it down and now I cannot wait to read the next two books in the series.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I read this book after finding it at a second hand store. I randomly came across it on tv after I read it. The book was great...movie was okay. Definately suggest this for a quick and easy read.

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J.Watson

My dear friend Amanda bought me this book for my birthday. I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! Such a good book!

So thats my book catch up.

Thanks to the power of pinterest I have found some amazing recipes.

Here are two that I have tried recently.

Source

Butternut Squash Pasta Salad

*Delicious. Allen even enjoyed this one.

Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

 *not remotely good for you so only make them if you are planning on giving them away.

Thats all for now...more to come don't worry!

B

Simple Black Bean Enchiladas

Allen and I didn't know what to have for dinner tonight...and I started to get grumpy as I was starving and didn't know what I wanted to eat. I decided to turn to the internet to inspire me for dinner. I found these black bean enchiladas and adapted them a tad.

Source

You will have to excuse the lack of photos... I took a photo on instagram, but it didn't seem to go through so now I am sans a photo!

So here is the recipe (adapted from While He Was Napping)

Black Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients:

2 skinless, chicken breasts, thinly sliced and cooked

*I seasoned the chicken with a texmex seasoning

1 1/2 cups of cheese (we used mozzarella)

1 can of black beans

1 can of refried beans

1 can of enchilada

Salsa

6 Whole wheat tortillas

Lay out a tortilla and spread some refried beans onto half of the tortilla. Then lay chicken, black beans, cheese and salsa on. Roll 'her up and place (seam side down) into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Repeat until all 6 tortillas are nicely placed into the dish. Pour a jar of enchilada sauce on top of the tortillas and sprinkle remaining cheese and black beans on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serve with some veggies and sour cream.

Some suggestions:

Veggies...veggies!! I am trying to increase the amount of veggies in each meal. I think Allen and I both agreed that this dish needed more veggies. I think some cooked red peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, or corn may be good. We served our enchiladas with a side caesar salad.

I would definately suggest trying this dish. It was so simple and delicious!

B

PS. I promise I will increase the amount of photos!!!!

Lets try this again...

I'm sorry...its been awhile...its been forever since my last post. I have been inspired by a few fellow bloggers to get back into it. This is going to be a short post. I will post again soon with a much better catch up post. I just really wanted to get this out...

Source Peanut Butter Fingers

If you have time...please give this blog a read. A young boy with cancer wants Christmas cards and if you have time, please send one his way! I'm definately going to get mine into the mail as soon as possible!

I promise I will be back soon!

B