Cardboard, No; Delicious, YES

I have to admit my unbelief in Fiber One. 

I've seen hundreds of commercials for it, and yeah the people always look thrilled to be eating this cereal, but they were paid to react that way...I wasn't sold. When initially I began trying to eat healthier I was of that damaging mentality that healthy=not so tasty. Someone could have knocked me over with a feather when I realized how wrong I was! Not only is healthy food absolutely delicious, but it is what I have come to crave. Not to say I wouldn't give it all for a piece of cake every now and then, but overall the good stuff is what my body wants. And definitely what it needs. So on the road to discovering new yummy health conscious foods I decided to give Fiber One a try. I initially bought it because I had a Hungry Girl recipe (whole nother post on Hungry Girl another day...) that had me coating chicken in crushed Fiber One bran. Since I had it in the pantry I thought I might as well give it a shot and I remember proclaiming "Zach! This stuff is ACTUALLY really good!!!" What a revelation! Fiber really is an important part of our diets and in aiding our digestive health, and we are supposed to be taking in 20-35 grams of fiber a day. Well in just 1/2 a cup of Fiber One (the bran one) you get 57% of your daily fiber!!! Needless to say Fiber One has now become a breakfast staple and I love trying out the different varieties, occasionally adding fruit to them.

JORDAN

NEW WHAT'S ON THE MENU IS UP! Sorry it took so long, last week was super busy with Thanksgiving festivities!

The Food Quest: Lynn's Paradise Cafe

Saw it: Travel Channel's 101 Chowdown Countdown and Food Network's Throwdown with Bobby Flay
Known for: decadent breakfasts
We went: 7/25/2010
We had: Zach- Kentucky Scramble with fried green tomatoes and biscuits
           Jordan- Bourbon Ball French Toast with a side of macaroni and cheese
Location: Louisville, KY


Lynn's is in Louisville, Kentucky and it was a place I was so excited to try! It is such an eclectic restaurant with the weirdest things displayed both outside and inside. There was a giant bronze horse by the door, tubes that you made music on with flip flops, lamps hanging upside-down from the ceiling, trees with absolutely everything imaginable hanging from them...it was the eccentricity that made it so great! We waited over an hour to eat here, and it was certainly worth it! Both of our dishes (the scramble and the french toast) were seen on two different episodes of Throwdown with Bobby Flay- and Lynn beat him both times! The macaroni and cheese was actually talked about on Oprah, and being the pasta junkie I am I deemed it perfectly acceptable to eat some with my french toast :) Each food trip experience is unique, and this is definitely one of the most unique restaurants we have ever seen! I did have my first experience with a Bloody Mary here, and this one was made with an excessive amount of spices and ugh...not good! Don't think that's my preferred drink.

JORDAN

Gossip Girl

I am hooked. Have been for a while now really, but I just love Gossip Girl! I would definitely say it's my favorite show right now, though I am not even caught up on the seasons yet. I am almost half-way through the third season now, and it just gets better and better. I just love these characters, their lives, their clothes :), and sometimes I have to remind myself that Serena or Chuck doesn't REALLY exist. (And they are my two favorite characters!) Honestly though, if there were any show I could choose to star on (or maybe even just guest star) it would be Gossip Girl. Also they have just about the best wardrobe since Confessions of a Shopaholic...

Sighhh....
Can't wait to be caught up so I can enjoy it in real time with the rest of America!


JORDAN

Be Thankful!

Here's wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy this time off, this break from reality, family, friends, food, and fellowship. I have so much to be thankful for, and I should never require a day to remind me to give thanks. Being thankful is something I should practice every day, because I have absolutely no reason not to be. Whatever comes my way. Now I am finishing the LAST of my baking (finally) with two pumpkin pies in the oven- my hubby's absolute favorite. Then heading to spend the day with my Mom's side of the family and enjoy the wonderful people in my life. Tonight my husband and I have a fun, then romantic evening planned for the two of us. I hope you all can celebrate with such happiness today!

JORDAN

Chi-town

Last weekend in Chicago was such a nice break from reality! Zach and I had an amazing time together, and it re-affirms my belief that everyone needs to get away once in a while. We stayed at the Dana hotel and spa and our room was spectacular! It was a very modern, unique hotel, which we absolutely love. We got a room on the top floor (the 25th) and it was a corner room so we had two walls of windows. What an amazing view we had!

We took a couple of bottles of wine to enjoy, and they had complimentary bathrobes and slippers for us. Let me tell you, there is nothing better than wearing a robe, drinking wine, and looking out on a beautiful skyline!

Then our view at night was even more beautiful.

After enjoying our room for the whole day, we ventured out to one of our favorite places to eat, ZED451. They have what are called "harvest tables" (like a buffet table, but NOT at all a buffet) where you get tiny portions of all these amazing foodie type side dishes. Then you have a stone at your table that you set at the end of the table when you want meat, and the meat just keeps coming! There are so many chefs on staff and they are each in charge of a different meat, and they bring them around and tell you all about them and give you small portions. The chefs keep coming by with different meat until you take your stone away. The parade of meat seems endless: snapper, venison, sausage, pork butt, chicken, prime rib, filet mignon, salmon, swordfish, pork....and still more. It is such a unique dining experience and the service is impeccable. We finished off with deconstructed s'mores, a great way to end the meal :)

More on Chi-town later...


JORDAN

Gazelle

About 5 months ago I bought one of these babies from a yard sale for $12...

This is a gazelle, and it is the best $12 ever spent! I keep this in my front living room and use it EVERY day. It is especially helpful on days like today when I have a very limited time (or no time at all) to spend in the gym. I just use this continuously throughout the day and the calorie burning really adds up. It keeps track of my minutes and calories burned, so when I am getting off and on, off and on, it doesn't lose my progress. I may jump on for 30 seconds here, 2 minutes here, a half hour or so during the kid's nap-time and those minutes really add up! I end up using it for at least 35-40 minutes a day, and with this burning an average of 7 calories a minute, it is a great workout! Time to stop blogging, get my butt off the couch, and go gazelle some more! With family coming over tonight I am only going to be able to hit the gym for 20 minutes!!! It's worth it to spend time with the people so precious to me though.




JORDAN

 

YAWN

Our Chicago weekend was SUCH a blast! What a much-needed get-away. (I'll post pics soon) Now I need a weekend to recover from my weekend though. Luckily my sub comes today so I have a half-day of work; thinking I may have to squeeze a nap in before spin class tonight! First though I will be busy, busy baking all day. Tomorrow the Twibell family get-together (my Dad's side) is at my house and boy is there a lot to be done before then! I am making a white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake, marbled brownies, and several dozen vanilla glazed apple cookies...and that's all BEFORE I start cleaning the house top to bottom! I am sleepy just thinking about it... I may have to squeeze in TWO naps (now wouldn't that be decadent!)

My bed is calling...

How amazing would it be to be able to nap HERE!!!!

JORDAN

The Food Quest: Giordano's

Saw it: On the Travel Channel's 101 Chowdown Countdown

Known for: stuffed crust/ deep dish Chicago style pizza

Went: 9/26/09

We had: the Special- stuffed pizza with green peppers, mushrooms, onions, and sausage

Location: Chicago, IL
 

So Giordano's is the first place Zach and I went to that was in our food journal. This is one of the first places people would tell you to go for REAL Chicago pizza. It has gotten the top marks and now I know why! We were in Chicago for Zach's "birthday." (His birthday is really December 21, but it's so close to Christmas it never gets properly recognized, so last year I did a totally surprise birthday weekend to Chicago...in September!) We went to Giordano's and the pizza there was heaven. So cheesy and saucy and delicious! And it is truly stuffed- stuffed to overflowing. Even though our car got towed while we were eating there :( we loved it and would always chalk it up to the best, real Chicago pizza.



Can you see the cheesy goodness stringing across the side of my plate?





JORDAN

The Food Quest: Introduction

You may have gotten the impression that I like food. If so, you are absolutely wrong; I LOVE food! :) Whenever I would go on a diet (yuck) I had a love/hate relationship with food, loved it when I had it and hated it five seconds later. Over the past couple of years though, since I have refused to ever use the word diet again, and am instead working on living a healthy lifestyle, my relationship to food is completely different. Most of the time I am careful about what I eat and make sure I am making healthy choices. Occasionally though that goes out the window for special reasons, and one of the biggest reasons is Zach and I's food quest. See he loves food just as much as I do (this is a passion neither of us had before marriage, so we have developed this together) and one of the things you will find we watch the most of is either the Food Network or the Travel Channel. We love seeing all the amazing things people do with food and all the great places that people eat. A little over a year ago we decided to start putting all the places that were in America into a food journal. I have pages for every state, and when we see a place we write it down, what city it's in, what food it's best known for, and what show we saw it on. Now while Zach and I definitely consider ourselves foodies (in search of unusual, high class foods that are palate pleasing), most of the places written into our journal are not "foodie" restaurants- a lot of them are very regular and average, but have some dish or item that makes them special enough to get on television. So we have made it our mission to visit them: all of them. Sadly, our great state of Indiana generates very few of these restaurants, so we have to tackle them when we know we will be out of state and in an area where one is. We have been to several so far, and this is just something we really enjoy! So I will create separate posts for the past places we have been, and then will make a new food quest post each time we do a new restaurant! I am very excited, because this weekend we will be hitting one of our restaurants that's in Cicero, IL!!!

JORDAN

Looking Ahead

I am so excited for the next couple of weeks! We have so many wonderful things planned! Tomorrow my best friend Christine comes into town to spend several days with us, and I always look forward to spending time with her.

Thursday for Thursday night date Kori and I are going to see Saw VII (we are kind of horror movie fanatics)

Saturday my wonderful husband and I are headed to Chicago to spend a couple of days relaxing, eating good food, and getting away from it all! Sooo ready for a mini-vacation!

Next Tuesday all the family from my Dad's side is getting together for a Thanksgiving celebration and I am hosting at my house, always so much fun for us to all get together!

The lovely ladies of my precious family at last years get together

Then of course, next Thursday is Thanksgiving! I love this time of the year so much and can't wait to spend time with family and indulge in all my favorite holiday traditions.

I will have a four-day weekend next week because of Thanksgiving, and next Friday is one of my favorite traditions of all: setting up all our Christmas decorations!!! I absolutely LOVE this day, but I am sure I will blog more in depth about it when it comes :)

JORDAN

Definitely a Yes

Ummmm two tablespoons of fat-free vanilla ice cream between a rice krispie bar that has been cut in half to make a less than 120 calories delicious ice cream sandwich???? YES PLEASE!!!!

Spin Class

Well right now it's nap-time for the kiddos and all I can think of is how ready I am to go to spin class! Spinning is one of my favorite parts of the week. I go to spin every Monday and Wednesday evening for a seriously good workout. I wish I could attend more nights, but my work schedule doesn't permit it! I started going to spin a little over a year ago, late last October. I remember in the first couple of classes thinking I was going to pass out, I would never be able to sit again, and I would never be able to follow all the teacher's instructions! It's funny when you look back on things and see how far you've come how hard they seemed at first! Spin class is still challenging though, and that's what's great about it- it is as difficult or easy as you make it. One of the things my Wednesday instructor says often is "It's your workout!" And that is such a great reminder that I will only get out what I put in. The more resistance I add to my bike and the faster I am able to go, the more calories I will be able to burn. On average I burn about 375 to 400 calories and bike 22-25 miles, all depending on what we do that day. Some classes we spend a lot of time "climbing" where you are increasing your resistance consistently and making it harder and harder. This is really good for calorie burning, but not so much on distance. Other classes we spend more time "sprinting" which obviously does the opposite. There is always enough variation in the class that you don't get too burned out doing one move, and spinning to the music is always fun! (My Wednesday teacher picks the best music!) So if you want a challenge and a really great workout, spin class is a good way to push yourself beyond what you think you are able to do! Plus, working out in a group setting is always more motivating and encourages you to do things you otherwise may not do on your own!

JORDAN

Shopping List

It's Sunday, and one of my absolute favorite parts of every Sunday is making my grocery list! After lunch (so I am not making a list when I'm hungry, otherwise I would put way too many extras on my list) I pop in a movie, spread all my cookbooks and recipe files and baking books all around me, and start searching through each one to make my menu for the week. It's funny because things I will have skipped right over a previous week will suddenly stand out and get added to my menu. I plan out a meal for each night of the week (always leaving one or two free for plans with friends or out to eat) and make my corresponding list. This is so helpful to me for so many reasons: 1. It's a big money saver, because when I have all these fresh groceries needing used, I definitely am not going to be spending money going out to eat. 2. It makes my weeks much healthier because I have control over my recipes, my portion size, and it's overall always healthier to cook at home. 3. I always get excited seeing what I am going to make for the week ahead, and meals are such a great bonding time for Zach and I (plus he's such a big help in the kitchen and in cleaning up!)

So now I have another week's menu planned and I can't wait! Tonight is chicken francese, spinach salads, and home-made honey spice bread! Yum!

JORDAN

Making a Statement

You've seen them, you've heard about them, you've probably even worn a version yourself. I'm talking about statement jewelry. And while these pieces above are a bit much for me, I do love an off-runway toned down version of a statement piece. 


Every girl needs a couple of statement staples in her jewelry collection. They are fun, make you feel fearless, can turn any casual outfit into a fashion piece, and are guaranteed to turn heads! Statement jewelry is empowering; it takes a bold woman to make a bold choice, and though it might sound silly, when you take some risks on yourself and learn to be brave, it will change your outlook and approach to life. While some risks might not always pay off in life (such as some fashion blunders that are bound to be made) your life is more enriched for having taken them, and when they do pay off the reward is marvelous!


Now there is a hard and fast rule to wearing a statement piece. Notice what I just mentioned, a statement PIECE, not pieces. When you have an outstanding piece of jewelry on, let it be the star of the show. Don't try to trump it up with other large pieces because your outstanding will go to outlandish. Here are some picks I really love...

JORDAN

Smart Pop!

I. Am. In. Love.
With a popcorn!!!! 
I am the kind of person who always wants SOMETHING to eat in the evening after dinner, but I also don't want to undo the whole days exercise and healthy food or consume too much too close to bed time. This is where my new obsession comes in: Orville Redenbacher's 100 Calorie Smart Pop

Please don't let the words "mini bags" fool you- this is like the biggest serving size for 100 calories I have ever seen!! See, I am not a fan of the 100 cal. snack packs because while yes, they are only 100 calories, they are just empty calories with no good benefits and the serving size is so small that your snack craving isn't the least bit satisfied. This is stuff is amazing though! Not only are you getting some good benefits in your calories (such as poly-unsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats, 12% of your daily fiber, 4g of protein, and 4% iron!) but it is an incredible amount of snack! The first time I made a bag and poured it into a bowl (a large bowl I might add) it way over-flowed my bowl and I swear I quadruple-checked the serving size. I couldn't believe my eyes- 6 1/2 cups of this popcorn is ONE serving size! Unheard of! If I didn't used to be a huge fan of popcorn, I am sold now! This has become a favorite nighttime buddy of mine, and one I don't have to feel bad about later. If I am really craving a little sweetness I drizzle some honey over the top (not too much-1 tsp. equals 15 cal.). Please give this snack a try and let me know what you think, I promise it will rock your world!


Thus far I have only tried the kettle corn kind, but I am looking forward to trying the 100 cal. butter one as well!



JORDAN

Dessert Night

Last night Zach and I had bi-weekly Dessert Night with our good friends Grant and Leah. 

(Not the greatest quality picture, but for as much as we hang out, I think this is the only picture that all four of us are actually in!)

We had no idea this was going to become a tradition the first time we had it back on August 4th, but what a great tradition it has become! *I had to look on my facebook and go WAAAY back to see when the first dessert night was, and I saw that in my status I affectionately called it "Calorie fest"- definitely appropriate*

So on the first dessert night Grant and I both made desserts (he is a chef-in-training and I love to bake). We quickly learned that if this was going to become a regular thing,

               A. We needed to only have one person making the dessert (waaay too much junk food otherwise)

               B. It needed to be BI-weekly instead of weekly (again so we weren't making ourselves fat)

               C. We should switch off houses and desserts every other time (to make it easier when dealing with cooking and cleaning)

We have now been having dessert night for three months, and it is a great tradition! I really like lists and organization and I realized there is no where that I have been keeping track of what desserts we have had, so I decided to make a list here before it has been so long that I can't remember!

DESSERT NIGHT TREATS SO FAR

August 4: Michael's - Brownies in ramekins w/ice cream

    Rabensteins - Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Cheesecake

August 19: Rabensteins -Dark Chocolate Cake Balls with cream cheese frosting

August 31: Michaels -Chocolate Mousse with orange reduction

September 15: Rabensteins - Surprise Red Cupcakes

September 28: Michaels - Chocolate covered pound cake with fruit

October 12: Rabensteins - Chocolate Cheesecake

October 25: Michaels - Chocolate Candy Bark

November 9: Rabensteins - Marbled Petit Four Brownies w/ice cream

Another thing I wish I had done is taken pictures of all of these desserts. I am a pictureholic and take pictures CONSTANTLY, and always of food, but for some reason these treats have not been documented! This will have to change.

I think this is the only dessert I took a picture of- this is my chocolate cheesecake with white chocolate curls (and let me tell you, curling chocolate is NO JOKE!)

JORDAN

Climb Time

If you recall, last Saturday I planned a surprise date day for my husband. There were lots of things involved, but the one I really want to talk about is CLIMB TIME. In Indianapolis (our big city) we have an indoor rock-climbing place called Climb Time. 

 I had heard about it and driven past it for years, and always wanted to go, so I decided to make it happen. When you get there you rent all your equipment (harness, special shoes) and get a day pass. You can get a "boulder pass" where you free climb the walls, but only up to a certain height, or a "roped pass" to have full access to all the walls using a belay system. Everything here is self oriented, and you wouldn't be able to climb alone because you have to have a person pulling the rope to give you slack the whole way up, and then slowly release the rope to get you down. The first couple of climbs Zach did I literally thought I was going to send him crashing into the ground! 

 The funny thing is, in my tension I ended up doing quite the opposite, and lowered him so slowly he could have taken a nap on his way down! At one point I looked at him when he was coming down and he looked so completely bored out of his mind with the 5 minute descent that I knew I had to move a little quicker. Fortunately I got the hang of it, and no injuries were sustained. :)

 We had a fabulous time and got a great upper-body workout!

Taking a break- it's hard work!

We decided to do some jumping pictures for fun!