Terrible Blogger

I am a terrible blogger and that is really all I have to say. I have never been able to be consistent in writing in a journal so I am not sure why I thought I would be good at keeping a blog. But I am once again to start again. My goal is to put something up on the blog just 1 time per week. I think that is doable. With that being said I am pretty sure this will be my post for the week.

We do have a lot that is upcoming. I will be traveling back home to Groom for a Christmas party, we are beginning to workout again which normally comes with cooking again, and of course we will have Christmas to celebrate as well.

All Things New

We have had so much going on lately. New jobs, new schedules, and adjusting to a very different life of 2 full time "real" jobs. I am loving what the future is looking like for us. We have many decisions to make now that we have only dreamed of previous. Buying a house, having a baby, be a stay at home mom or a working mom, create a real full business of my photography or keep it as a hobby, just to name a few.

James is now working for the same company as I am and is loving it. I love that he is loving it. I think that has been a big fear for both of us, that he would get into a job that he didn't enjoy. I am got a promotion and I am working in a different group but doing the same job...well almost. I am supporting a new product and I am still learning the ins and outs of it and I am having to change how I do my job because what I do is now read

directly by pretty important people instead of just fellow agents. It has been a good change of pace, but I am ready to know the product backwards and forward so I can feel "comfortable" again.

I have had a few scheduled photo shoots recently and I have been working on my off camera flash photography. I need more practice with the off camera flash. Looking for ways to expand and hopefully have photography to fall back on so I can be a stay at home mom photographer instead of just a stay at home mom (when the time comes).

Until next time, here is a new favorite of James and Dagny!

New Five Squared Photography Post

Check it out!

http://tiny.cc/f1wvk

Hybrid Burgers

Another recipe from the Taste of Home Simple and Delicious. Very Delicious indeed!

3/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

1 egg white

1/2 cup shredded zucchini

1/2 cup finely chopped sweet red pepper

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 lb. ground turkey

1 Tbsp. olive oil

In a small bowl, coarsely mash beans. Add the egg white, zucchini, red pepper, chili powder, onion powder, pepper and salt. Crumble the turkey over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties.

In a large skillet, cook burgers in oil over medium heat fro 4-5 minutes on each side or until the meat thermometer reads 165 degrees and juices run clear. Serve on buns.

Chicken Asparagus

This recipe is just fantastic! I got it from Taste of Home Simple and Delicious. You should give it a try!

1 lbs. fresh asparagus, trimmed

1/4 tsp. salt, divided

1/8 tsp. pepper, divided

1/4 cup white wine or chicken broth

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 oz. each)

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Place asparagus in a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking disk. Sprinkle with 1/8 tsp. salt and a dash pepper. In a small bowl, combine wine and butter; pour over asparagus.

Arrange chicken over asparagus; sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered., at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, bake 5-10 minutes longer or until chicken juices run clear and cheese is melted.

Lentil Burgers

I tried this recipe while we had friends over and it turned out terrible. Tried it again and they were much better. Still could use more spices in the burger.

Ingredients

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

• 1/4 cup grated carrots
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 cups cooked lentils, mashed
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• salt to taste
• oil for frying

Preparation:

Cook the onion and carrot in the water until tender, about ten minutes.

Drain off excess water, then combine the onion and carrot with the remaining ingredients except oil.

Form into patties and fry in a lightly oiled frying pan until browned on both sides and heated through, about ten minutes.

Cleansing

If you remember back last April James and I did a cleanse. I lost I think 12 lbs. We are cleansing again starting tomorrow. Last time we had no idea how hard it was going to be for us. We were not prepared at all. We were not vegetable eaters at all except for a few baby carrots and "fixings" on burger. The first 11 days are fruit and vegetable only, and you have to have twice as many vegetables than fruit. That was hard. We ate a lot of salsa and were very happy to get emails with recipes in them. We found out that we liked spaghetti squash and we had a great recipe for roasted broccoli. We also found out that we can make great salads.
This time we are more prepared. We have a whole weeks worth of meals/recipes ready to go! We have found a few substitutes that will allow us to have food we otherwise could not have. I am very excited about this! I know that I am going to feel so good in the end. We are also going to be training for the Cap10K during this cleanse so we are going to have to be careful that we are getting enough food/calories/protein to fuel us during our runs as they are already getting much longer than I am used to.
You can follow my run training on my side bar from dailymile. You can also join dailymile.com to track your own training. We can spur each other on!

Parmesan Chicken Breasts

I have started a 60 day challenge recently that I have set goals to do daily, weekly, and monthly. One of the things that I am doing weekly is try 1 new recipe. I am going to share my new recipe and hopefully a picture. I didn't take a picture this time but hopefully I will be sharing a picture each week.

Todays recipe came from 15~Minute Low~Carb Recipes by: Dana Carpender

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless check breast

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese*

4 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp pepper

2 eggs

4 tbsp butter

* Use the cheap stuff in the round, green shaker for this.

Pound the chicken breasts till they're 1/4 inch thick, and cut into 6 portions. Set aside.

Combine the cheese with the oregano, garlic, paprika, and pepper on a plate. On another plate or in a shallow bowl, beat the eggs. Dip the chicken in the egg and then the cheese mixture, coating both sides well.

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat ( higher heat will scorch the cheese), and saute for 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until cooked through.

This was great!

Saunders

My good friends and I went out to Cauble Farms for a short photo shoot. Here is what I came out with.

Winter 2009 in the Panhandle

This is my December post just a little late. We spent 4 full days in Groom this Christmas vacation and it snowed 2 of those days. It was beautiful! Living in Austin has warmed my blood to much to really enjoy the snow that much. I did build a snowman though. I will save you from seeing that.