Oh My May

Well, as I always end up saying at the beginning of the month, I can't believe that it is already May! Oh my, where has the time gone! I feel like I was just starting the semester and now I am looking straight down the barrell of my last 2 weeks of this final full semester of my undergraduate classes!! Yay for that! Then the following week I am taking a mini-mester class that is Monday through Friday 8am-5pm. These classes, although are nice because you get a full 3 credit hour class finished within a week, are super stressful because you are doing an entire semester class in a week! All the prayer warriors get your BIG ones out because I am going to need all the prayers that I can get these next couple of weeks!!!

Unfortunately, over the last couple of weeks I have been getting increasingly tired. I don't know if it was the switch in my thyorid medicine or just the cycle of the progesterone, or just the PCOS in general. Yet, yesterday I was falling asleep on the couch at 5pm! WOW, that is crazy for me. And even as I sit here typing this I am struggling to keep my eyes open and if it were possible for me to go back to bed, I wouldn't think twice about it! Obviously there is something going on now the real key is figuring out what it is!

My diet has been great I believe I am not on day 27 of perfectly clean eating with no carbs, and no sugar, and all natural. I love how much better I feel when I am eating like this and it has definitely helped the insulin resistance because I no longer am having CrAzY outrageous desires and NEEEEEDs for sugars and carbs. I even made Monkey Bread (a Giant Cinnamon Roll) this past week for my roommate and friend and didn't even have an urge or feel the need to have any. I have also kept up with my supplements and my water. I drink excessively as usual and pretty much always have a bottle of water in my hand. I have even started buying all grass fed, no hormone, free range meats despite the fact at how much more expensive it is.

My workouts have been quickly coming to a stall because of the energy thing. Fortunately, I am at least able to get myself to the gym in the mornings and I am getting in at least 5 weight training days per week and at least 5 cardio days per week. Unfortunately, this LACK of energy thing is REALLY starting to get to me and I am struggling to even make it entirely through all of my workouts. I am ready for bed about half-way through. Also, I am finding that I am weaker and not able to lift as much or go as long. This is TOTALLY and COMPLETELY out of my character! I hate it because it is almost like I am looking from the outside in and I know that it is not like me but I can't do anything about it. It is basically just pure exhaustion, physically and mentally.

I called the doctor this morning and left her a message about my thyroid and about the fact that I am supposed to get a prescription level of vitamin D because mine was so low and my moods fluctuate sooo much when the weather is bad. So I am anxiously waiting their phone call (with as much energy as I can muster up to wait for it!)

I am trying to stay postive throughout this time, but it sure is going to make these next 3 weeks even more difficult then they are already going to be if something doesn't change. Thank God for my amazing relationship with Him because without Him I don't know what I would do or where I would find my rest, peace, and strength! I am going to just rest on the notion that, "I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens ME" (Phil. 4:13).

Pneumonia

First off, I can't believe that it is already April! Wow, crazy! Time suuure flies (and yes, I will probably say that at the beginning of every month!) Well, March wasn't exactly my favorite month ever. I was pretty much sick the entire month and wasn't able to workout! I did get to watch a lot of movies and a lay on my butt a lot. I had been pushing to compete in April yet after a month of not working out, unless of course you count hacking up a lung, that is not going to happen. On top of the coughing and feeling awful when I actually felt like eating, I pretty much ate whatever I wanted, and most of the time I didn't want to eat chicken and broccoli. It was a crazy chain of events that started with my usual health stuff and snowballed into a cold, to bronchitis, to a kidney infection, to pneumonia! No bueno!

Well, the positive news is I am feeling MUCH better now. Despite the fact that I am still not 100% I was able to run on Tuesday, Wednesday, and this morning. Also, I trained with Jerome for the first time today too. Despite the fact I was on the verge of passing out the entire time, it felt AMAZING! I loved the torture and sorta of forgot JUST how much I liked it! It was an amazing high and made me feel soo much better! Now I can't wait to be back to 100% so I can get back focused and ready for the next competition. Right now I am trying to shoot for the end of May but sort of playing it by year because you just never know what my body is going to do (or not do).

March 10 Training

Doing clean's as part of the workout.




These are the crazy hard yoga push-ups off the tire, which we superset with 50 tire jumps! Fun times!



Now this is Jasmine trying to do her first hand stand. The video doesn't really do the humor of the whole thing justice.

March 2nd - Early Morning Training

As always Jerome kicked out butts. Here was a morning workout from the beginning of March.







Although during these workouts, I often question, "WHY?" Like, "Why am I here? Why am I doing this? Why am I not still asleep?" These kind of fast-paced, kick your butt, Jerome, plyo type workouts are by far my favorite!

Boot Camp 2/27

As usual Jerome kicked out butts at Saturday morning boot camp! There is never any doubt about that! Yet, I was feeling pretty good and motivated at the end of the hour so I decided to continue going! I choose to do more sleds and the bike and I was super excited because I ended up burning more than 1,000 calories total! It was definitely a killer workout but I was on such a workout high after, even despite the tiredness! Plus, we had a race that morning on the sleds and I was racing against a good friend that I train with that is a track star and is rated in the top 5 of her age group! She is pretty awesome! So of course we are assumed and figured that she was going to win and so the race was going to be for second between me, and the other two girls that were racing. Yet, I totally kicked some butt and WON! It was awesome! The other girls were fighting about who got 2nd place, when I so nicely reminded them that it didn't matter because 2nd place still meant they lost! All and all it was an amazing workout and morning! :)

This is a short video towards the end of the two hours of Bridgette (the track star) and I pushing some sleds!

I rocked it this workout and felt pretty good! I would say 2 hours and 5 minutes and 1023 calories is pretty awesome! :)

Here is Jas, Bridgette, and I doing our cool down and definitely all a little exhausted!

Egg Yolk Only Sugar Cookies

Once again this weekend I was feeling the stress and so where did I turn, the kitchen! I had the best of intentions to be good and just bake and use it as a relaxer and not put any of it into my mouth, but after the second day and the crappy weather I caved and enjoyed all that I had made. And although I was rather frustrated and mad at myself for eating it all, I do have to admit that it was very tasty! (So at least I got that going for me!)

My parents were going to their home team or small group at church on Sunday afternoon and were supposed to bring the dessert. My mom had decided that she was going to make two different jelly roles, a lemon one and a chocolate one. Of course I volunteered to help! So Saturday evening after my vintage bike ride (my dads old bike from the 70's) we started baking. We made the lemon flour part first and while that was baking we made the lemon "jelly" inside. It turned out amazingly tasty and very fresh and lemony. Then we started on the chocolate outside part and mixed that up to bake. While these were baking I had found two new egg yolk recipes that I wanted to try. One was a yellow layer cake with chocolate frosting and the other were sugar cookies. With the vote of my mom and my brother we went with the sugar cookies. 

We started to mix up all the ingredients and because my mom always likes to cut the sugar we add 1/4 cup less sugar although we ended up making up for it with the sugar coating. I don't know why but the mixture turned out really dry and was pretty crumbly. Yet, we set out to make it work so we were going to. The only other thing that we changed was we added lime zest instead of lemon because we had just used the lemon for the lemon jelly roll. We then decided that we would make St. Patrick's Day themed cookies and be festive! So we rolled our finished balls of dough in green sugar. They looked pretty yet the only problem is that the added sugar made them even more dry. We cooked them on two different pans, a non-stick (dark) pan and a light pan. We thought that they would turn out better on a regular light pan but the opposite was true. The other odd thing about these cookies was the fact that once they were cooled they hardened up and were not longer soft or gooey even towards the center. That was a big disappointment because I think even sugar cookie needs to be soft. Yet, they still tasted good. I think they at least passed the taste test because although I never got an official ruling, I noticed that my dad was taking them by the handfuls to eat!

Egg Yolk Only Sugar Cookies
(this recipe is originally from the baking blog: cookiemadness.net)

They claim that this recipe makes the best sugar cookies! Thin with a crisp exterior
and a chewy, soft interior! (Although, I figured out the truth about this soft interior part!)

Cook Time: 10
Prep Time: 30

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 (slightly rounded – not quite ¾) teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter (if you use salted butter, use only
¼ tsp. salt), softened
2 cups, scant, granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon good vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
3 egg yolks

Thoroughly stir together first three ingredients. If you have time,
sift them.  Stir in the salt.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the vanilla and
lemon zest, then one by one, beat in the egg yolks.

Slowly stir in the flour mixture. Mix well.

Form into 1 inch balls and place balls about 2 inches apart on a
non-stick or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or
until the cookies start to brown around the edges. Let cool on cookie
sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Next time I made these I will definitely be adding more egg yolks. I will probably add two more and see how they do. I will also possibly roll the dough into smaller balls and see how they do and maybe try cooking them for less time. Who knows, maybe the egg yolks will make it better all around! I guess we will just have to wait and see. 

Jelly Rolling

The other part of the Baking bonanza from this weekend were the Jelly Rolls. My mom didn't think that they turned out very good so unfortunately she ended up going with a store bought cheesecake because she is all about the presentation. I on the other hand didn't think they looked bad and I also thought they tasted really good. The lemon one had a very strong and distinct lemon flavor and there was nothing bland about that. It was light and fluffy because my mom had taken the original recipe's filly and mixed it with whip cream. Without the whip cream it would have had an even stronger lemon flavor and I don't think the texture would have been as pleasing. It made it much more light and airy in your mouth. It would be a great dessert to make in the summer time for lounging around by the pool or for a picnic.

The chocolate jelly roll we made with a cinnamon whip cream filling. Although the chocolate flavor was not very distinct I still think that it turned out good. I don't understand why the recipe only calls for cocoa powder because although it is cocoa it doesn't have a very strong flavor. Next time I think I would use some baking chocolate to give it more of a flavorful experience. The cinnamon whipped cream filling was yummy. It was also very light and fluffy and was not rich at all. The cinnamon flavor was unique and distinct because we used Saigon cinnamon which has a much stronger and bolder cinnamon flavor. Although, I think next time we make it I would use just a little more cinnamon to make the flavor even stronger.

  

 

The problem with both of them were that they turned out sort of dry so they cracked and did not form a very good "roll". They also stuck to the towel when my mom tried to unroll them. I don't know why because she had enough powered sugar on the towel. Also, I don't know why they both cracked. One of my favorite Thanksgiving desserts is a Pumpkin Roll and that always works out perfect every time. We decided it was because of the pumpkin that gives it added moisture to stay together and stay rolled. So next time we make another jelly roll we are going to make sure and add an ingredient that adds a lot of moisture.

Both of these desserts were very light and not very rich at all. Which is definitely not my favorite thing because I would love to eat a double chocolate fudge cake with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting sprinkled with chocolate sauce and chocolate shavings!  My mom choose the lemon over the chocolate because she didn't think the chocolate one had enough flavor while the lemon one was very flavorful. Yet, I would give them both a thumbs up and would definitely make them and eat them again.

 They obviously couldn't have been too bad because as you can see this chocolate one is already half gone!

Training speed bumps

Well, I think my strength in my training has now become my weakness. The diet used to be the easiest part for me to do. I used to be able to get into the zone and stay there and just do it because my goal was constantly on my mind. Yet, this time around I am REALLY struggling with the diet portion of my training. Obviously, I LOVE food and I love new flavors, cooking, recipes, and ingredients. Cooking and baking is a stress reliever and a relaxer for me. Usually I would be able to cook and bake and not even lick a single spoon, yet this time around I am having a hard time not eating the entire cake!

Grr....it is so frustrating because its like my actions are lining up with my intentions or my goals and I don't understand why. It is sort of weird because we have been learning about this is social psychology. From a psychologist standpoint it would be called cognitive dissonance.

It is like a flip switches in my head and all of a sudden I don't care about my prior stated goals. It is like they just go completely out the window and my mind is focused on something else. Food is awesome and delicious food is even better and homemade delicious food is amazing! It is definitely a coping mechanism and it is definitely a comfort. I don't know if it is because I am so stressed about everything else in my life that is going on, or because it is not my reeeeallll intention to compete in this show in April, or if I am just afraid to succeed. Whatever the reasoning, the dissonance that I am experiencing is huge and I am very frustrated, disappointed, mad, and upset that I can't seem to get it all together. :( It is a cycle of doing absolutely amazing and then something will happen or I will feel the stress creep in and then I feel totally overwhelmed and my prior desires and goals just go out the window and I just don't care.

Also, for those of you that don't know I have something called SAD (and yes it actually is sad). It is a form of depression that is often called seasonal or the winter blues because when the weather gets overcast and cloudy my mood is drastically effected.  Some of the symptoms are sleeping too much, having little energy, and craving sweets and starchy foods, (one of the big ones) feeling depressed, difficulty waking up in the morning, tendency to oversleep as well as to overeat, and especially a craving for carbohydrates, which leads to weight gain. Other symptoms include a lack of energy, difficulty concentrating on completing tasks, and withdrawal from friends, family, and social activities. All of this leads to the depression, pessimism, and lack of pleasure which characterize a person suffering from this disorder.

Unfortunately I am effected by almost all of the symptoms, which is not very conducive to trying to diet as hard as I am dieting and trying to get ready for a show. The only time that I ever have real thoughts, urges, cravings, and cave is when the weather is bad. I am like a totally different person sort of like Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde. It is definitely not fun but I guess it is just another speed bump to get over in not only this journey for my pro card, but also in life. I am not going to let this hold me back! Finish line here I come! :)

Chicken Stew and Cheesy Dumplings

Last weekend my mom and I’s mini cooking spree ended with an amazing stew. It was cold outside and we wanted something that would warm us up. So we decided to do something different than the usual chili or turkey soup. We choose Chicken stew and a last minute decision to make cheese dumplings too. After briefly looking for a recipe online I came across Giada’s recipe on the Food Network website. Well, we didn’t have everything that her recipe called for and also wanted to change a few things, so here is the adapted recipe that we came up with. (The amounts of the spices is an estimate because I usually just season things to taste).


Chicken Stew with Cheesy Dumplings

Ingredients

• Olive oil

• 4 stalks celery, cut into bite-size pieces

• 3 carrot, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces

• 1 onion, chopped

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can tomato sauce

• 1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth

• 1 can of water

• 2 tsp basil leaves,

• 2 bay leaf

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

• 2 chicken breast with ribs and skin (about 1 1/2 pounds total)

• ½ bag (or 1 can) black beans

Directions

Heat the oil in a heavy 5 1/2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, and onion. Saute the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomato sauce, chicken broth, basil, bay leaf, and thyme. Add the chicken breasts; press to submerge.

Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered until the chicken is almost cooked through, turning the chicken breasts over and stirring the mixture occasionally, about 25 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken breasts to a work surface. Discard the skin and bones from the chicken breasts. Shred or cut the chicken into bite- size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew. Take the bay leaf out and discard. Add black beans to the pot and simmer until the liquid has reduced into a stew consistency, about 10 minutes.

Bring the stew just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cheese Dumpling Recipe

* 3 Tbsp Shortening

* 1 1/2cups all-purpose flour

* 2 tsp baking powder

* 3/4 tsp salt

* 3/4 cup milk
Cut Shortening into flour, baking powder and salt until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in milk. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto hot meat of vegetables in boiling stew (do not drop directly into liquid). Cook uncovered 10 min. Cover and cook about 10 min longer. Makes 8 - 10 dumplings.

Cheese Dumplings: Add 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheese (about 1 oz) to the dry ingredients.

This dumpling recipe is a versatile recipe that you can add many different spices or things too. We choose to make cheese dumplings, which were delicious! Yet, in my business and tiredness I forgot the shortening when I was mixing the dumplings and I didn’t remember that I hadn’t put it in until half of the dumplings had already been dropped into the stew. As my mom positively pointed out, we had fat free dumplings now! At this point we were a little concerned how they were going to turn out, and if they would rise and get fluffy, yet they did and they were delicious. My mom had a hard time not eating them all!

Critique and assessment: The stew was delicious as well as the dumplings. The dumplings added a yummy mix of fluffiness and flavor when it soaked up the broth of the stew. Yummy! We had fun making this delicious meal and would definitely make it again!

Do ALL things for the Glory of God!

God is so good and provided us with some amazing talents and abilities that are unique to each one of us. Yet, how are you using those talents? Who are you using them for? Do you feel like they aren't important to God or His kingdom? However it is that YOU express your love, interest, creativity, talents or abilities, like Nike says, JUST DO IT, and do it for the glory of God!

Just as the great Apostle Paul says so elegantly in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." God did not give us our personal and unique talents and abilities so that we might hide them or selfishly use them or keep them to ourselves. God gave them to us as a gift and blessing so that we might use them and use them for Him and His glory and so that we might be a blessing to others. We are blessed to be a blessing! You might think that the things that you are talented in or interested in or the things laid on your heart aren't appropriate or useful to and for God and His kingdom. If your abilities and talents line up with God's Word then they ARE from Him and should be used FOR Him. They are a blessing from God Himself! Therefore, "Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes! " (1 Peter 4:11, MSG)

Let me ask you a question, if you don't use your unique talent, abilities, and platform to bring God's light to that specific situation, who will? God did not bless me with the talent to paint, draw, speed skate, garden, build houses, or do dry cleaning. Yet, he gave all those talents and abilities and many more to someone. Maybe that someone is YOU! If we aren't using them for His glory, what are you using them for? Your own glory?

Do ALL things for the glory of God. It doesn't say just the things that you think are "churchy" or the things that you feel like doing, it says ALL things. The word 'all' means EVERYTHING. As the dictionary defines it 'all' means the whole quantity or amount, everything. This means that you can't pick and choose! Whether it is driving, doing your job, working out, cooking an amazing meal, eating a delicious cake, scrubbing the toilets, loving your kids or spouse, or just plain relaxing. Do it ALL for God's amazing glory and watch the blessings that He will continue to pour out in your life; "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3:17)

Remember if you don't do it, then who will?

Spicy Guac with Chile Pequin's!

Last weekend my mom and I got to spend some quality time bonding. It was nice and one of the things that we both enjoy is not only being creative but cooking and baking. We kind of went on a roll and made a bunch of different things. We made the Sunshine Sponge Cake, some fresh guacamole, fresh and homemade chips, Asian stir-fry, homemade french fries, homemade potato chips, and chicken stew with cheese dumplings. We were definitely on a roll that is for sure.

Yet, there is just something about cooking and adding the ingredients and trying new things and seeing how all the little ingredients that you might think don't matter can all come together and meld and mix and create and amazing dish. I just love to cook because it makes me feel like it is a creative expression and an easy and fun way to show and share love with others. There is just a joy of pulling out some cupcakes from the oven or taking the lid off a pot on the stove and seeing a finished product.

I definitely enjoy utilizing others amazing recipes yet one of my favorite things to do is come up with my own or somehow modify existing recipes to make them unique to me and make them my own.

The guacamole is something that I never measure anything, I just go by taste. I use fresh avocados, fresh limes, basil, cilantro, garlic, salt, tomato, onion, jalapenos, and sometimes a random ingredient to mix it up or change the taste. I also really enjoy spicy foods, so I add cayenne pepper to mine. This time I was able to add a new and different ingredient to it, the chile pequin pepper. My dad has a friend that grows them and uses them to make fresh salsa. My dad was telling him that I really enjoy spicy things, so he gave him some for me to try and use. I had never heard of the pequin pepper before so I did some research on it, and this is what I came up with:

It is a hot chile pepper, that is known as the "bird pepper" because birds like them and often eat them. The pequin is the smallest chile pepper. It is typically 0.3 - 0.6 meters tall, with bright green, ovate leaves and small fruits that rarely exceed 2 cm in length. Like most chiles, they start out green, ripening to brilliant red at maturity. You can eat the pequin right off the vine. Yet, they are often dried and used for spice and to add to salsas, sauces, and soups. The pequin peppers are very hot. Some people say they are often 7-8 times hotter than jalapeños and on the Scoville scale they rate at 30,000-60,000 units. Their flavor is often described as citrusy, smoky, and nutty.You can find pequin peppers in Cholula hot sauce.

Now you know more than you ever wanted to know about these little tiny peppers! Yet, they added an interesting unique ingredient to the guacamole that made it spicy and totally delicious!

Golden Sunshine

A box without hinges, door, or lid, yet inside a golden treasure is hid?  What is it?

This was a riddle that I have remembered since I was a kid because I always thought it was so interesting and most people never quite figure it out. Have you? 

Well, I guess I will make it easy on you and just give you the answer, it is an egg! Currently in my diet for one of my meals I am eating a cup of egg whites, so one might assume that I go the easy route and just buy egg beaters or egg whites that are already separated. Yet, this would just be waaay too easy and who wants to make my life any easier in all of the craziness, right? So I actually physically separate all of the egg whites individually. I like to do this because it is cheaper and it is healthier. I don't eat anything processed or fake and unfortunately most of the egg white products that are out there are pasteurized and processed and have added things in them. I go through about 7-8 eggs a day to fill up a cup. That means that every day I have 7-8 egg yolks that I usually just throw down the disposal. I always feel like I am wasting these especially in the recent perspective of the events in Haiti. I just feel like I am wasting precious food that could be used for something. 

So I went on a mission. I wanted to find yummy recipes that involved only egg yolks to try and use them instead of just throwing them away. I found some custard, crème brulee, cakes, cookies, ice cream, hollandaise sauce, mayonnaise, and a couple of other random things. Many of the things that I wanted to make I didn't have all of the ingredients and neither did my parents. Yet, I found a cake recipe for a Sunshine Sponge Cake that I was able to utilize the most egg yolks and had all the ingredients. Also, I knew it was something that people would actually eat and I thought it might bring a little sunshine to the cold, rainy, and snowy weather we have been having.

Sunshine Sponge Cake

Makes 1 - 10 inch cake

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 10 egg yolks (at room temperature)
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract

Directions

1. Sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. With electric mixer, beat egg yolks until slightly thickened; add hot water gradually, beating until mixture is very thick and light (about 10 minutes).
3. Add flavoring to egg yolks, then add sugar gradually, beating constantly.
4. Fold in flour, about a fourth at a time (I do this by hand) folding until well blended.
5. Pour batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan.
6. Bake at 375°F for 40-50 minutes until done.
7. Remove cake from oven and invert pan.
8. Let cake stand for an hour until cool.

*The only ingredient that we didn't have was the lemon extract so instead of the lemon we used vanilla extract. Also, instead of the whole cup of sugar we condensed it and only used 2/3 cup of sugar.

The cake did not end up cooking for the entire time and was well done. I think that the time should be a little less. Also, I think that the pan needs to be greased because it was definitely a pain trying to get it out. The cake tasted good but it was not very sweet. It was more like a bread. My mom and I decided that with the lemon it would make it lighter and probably would taste better. Also, the egg yolks that I had were not fresh; they were a couple of days old. They probably would have risen more and gotten more fluffy and light had they been fresh.

I think I am going to try making this cake again, but with egg yolks that are fresh and make sure they are at room temperature. Also, I will probably use lemon extract and some fruits and nuts. It would be a very good breakfast bread. I also might try and make it with some whole wheat flour (just to make it healthier).

My dad, who is definitely a sweets guy, didn't like it too much because it is not very sweet. Yet, by spreading jelly, honey, or peanut butter to it gave it some more zing. Well, the cake didn't shine as bright as I had hoped but it wasn't awful and I got to use 10 egg yolks that would have usually just gone in the trash! So maybe next time the sun will shine brighter (and sweeter)!

Quilted Together

It sure has been awhile since I have been able to sit and write a blog. In fact this one is actually being pieced together in between the rest of life (since I keep getting harassed about no new updates!) I am going to try harder to update more, but there is no guarantee since I rarely have time to just sit down let alone write a blog! I don't even have time for Facebook anymore (now you know that is bad!)

Let's see, what has been going on?!? Hmm...well, for starters I can't believe that it is already February! Wow! A whole month of 2010 is already gone! I can't believe it. Yet, with all that I have going on I feel like I will look back in a couple of months and barely remember February either. I am currently taking 15 hours of school, working about 25 hours a week, and training for my competition in April. In the in between time, I spend driving! All of these places are in completely different and opposite places from where I live and from each other. I definitely feel blessed to be able to be apart of all of them and to have the means and ability to get to all of these places. God sure is good and I am already seeing his amazing blessing being poured out into my life this year and I can't imagine what else is in store for the next 11 months! :)

My classes are very interesting and exciting actually. It is kind of like a melting pot mix of classes, which is probably good for my ADD! :) I am taking History (my least favorite), Marketing, Social Psychology, Systematic Theology, and a Graphic Design class. It is hard to pinpoint which class is my favorite because I am really enjoying learning about graphic design and being able to actually produce and make my own stuff. I am also definitely enjoying learning the history and progression of Christianity, as well as why we as humans act certain ways and the way we relate to others. I also definitely feel blessed to be able to continue learning and taking classes at such an influential school. Dallas Baptist University is definitely a unique university and my favorite school that I have been to. (Since I have made my rounds for a total of 12 schools in my life) I think its is awesome how even in a secular class like social psyc we base everything on the Bible and are given examples throughout the Bible. I also find it awesome that we pray before and after most classes! What a totally different and unique experience from all the rest of my schooling!

I am also required to go to Chapel at least every Monday and Wednesday. This is basically a church service with a new speaker every time. At first I found it sort of an inconvenience to have to go to school way earlier just to attend. Yet, I enjoy getting to worship God and learn about Him more through some amazing and seasoned speakers and children of God. I find it rather amazing that all of us college students can gather together in worship. Of course God is always in church no matter what the age of the attendees. Yet, I find it totally unique and interesting the power that we as college students have and the up and coming next influential generation has when we all band together. Wow! It is awesome to get to be apart of that!

The 25 hours or so a week that I am working now are still nannying for the Massey family. They have four great, interesting, and unique kids, Morgan, 3 and a half years old, Aaron, 6 years old, Hannah, 9 years old, and Jake, 11 years old. Although they can definitely be a handful they are totally adorable! I feel blessed to get to be a part of their family and to have a job in this economy!

Now, I am sure this is the section of our you impatient people (you know who you are) have been waiting for, updates on my training! Well it has now been close to a month that I have been training (yay for making it that long!) I have about 8 weeks left of training before the BIG day! My first competition of the year is going to be the Ronnie Coleman here in Mesquite on Saturday, April 10th. I have been fighting with myself about whether or not I should put up pictures of my weekly process or not. Yet, I haven't yet because honestly I haven't really wanted anyone to see me in a bikini. Maybe sometime during this process I will put them up, but not until I am ready. This way I can stay sort of sane and not be stressing about how much farther I have to go and have the whole world be looking!

Training started out a little rough actually. My diet has been perfect and I haven't missed a beat in my training yet the first week I actually gained a pound!!!! As you can imagine, I was not very excited about this! :( Yet, I persevered on and kept going, and instead of going out and eating sushi and Ben and Jerry's (my classic cheat meal) I decided to use it to my advantage and train harder! With the reassurance from Tad on my diet, and the butt kicking from Jerome, I kept pushing.

Well, here is another piece that I can knit and add into this started and added onto quilt of a blog but still haven't finished. I have been writing this blog since the very beginning of February and now it is almost the end and I am just now finishing it up. Unfortunately, with the training thing I have missed a couple of cardio days here and there and oddly for me my diet hasn't been spot on. I think I am finding it MUUUCH harder with time around because of all the stress of the rest of my life that is going on. I literally feel like I never have time to relax or do anything for me. All of my time is consumed with running around and getting stuff done. There is always a list in hand of the millions of things that need to be checked off before the end of the day or the end of the week and yet they never all seem to get checked. Oh well, I guess this is my life for now and I am trying to stay as positive as possible about everything and just keep putting one foot in front of the other! I am so blessed to be able to participate and be a part of all of them that it is hard to get disappointed when you put it all into perspective. Especially when you spell perspective like Haiti! Wow! Aren't we all blessed?

I do know that I keep saying this, but I am going to do my best to try and update more and more even if they are just short quick blogs so that way all you harassers can lay low for a while! ;) Have a very blessed and amazing day!


B :)

Brittany vs. The Kookamunga Burger Challenge

If you aren't aware, I LOVE really BIG food (and really small food too). I love to go to restaurants where they serve oddly BIG food. I guess that is one of the side effects of being a Texan! :) Because I have a BIG food fetish, Man vs. Food is one of my favorite TV shows. In fact, I really think that Adam Richman could use a female co-host and I would be perfect for the job. It has been a goal of mine to go to the restaurants that Adam visits across the country and try all of the eating challenges. When I knew my dad and I were driving to Indy I knew I had a shot at finding at least one place on the list. I had always wanted to try this HUUGE burger that I had saw Adam eat in Memphis, TN at the Kooky Canuk. With my luck, we were going right by Memphis. So, on the way back to Dallas my dad and I made a slight detour and stopped off in Memphis. Fortunately, I had wanted to meet my friend Kirstin, who also lives in Memphis and so she agreed to meet us there.

Although it looks sort of like a whole in the wall, the Kooky Canuk is a popular bar and restaurant in downtown Memphis and is home of the 7 1/2 pound burger known as the Kookamunga Challenge! Immediately as you walk into the restaurant on the wall by the door are the pictures of the only 3 people that have been able to finish the challenge out of the thousands that have tried. Two of the winners have actually done it more than once.

 

At this point I was excited and eager to sit down and order it. On the road on the way to Memphis I has already looked up the menu and tried to call to see about the even BIGGER burger so that my dad and I could share it. Yet, their phone was busy the entire time. When we got there and I asked about it she said that you have to notify them about 24 hours in advance but if I wanted to wait a couple of hours then she could have the King Kookamunga, a  delicious and HUGE 12lb burger, ready.  Although disappointed, I decided that a couple of hours was too long to set us back on our drive and so I would settle for the measly 7 1/2lb Kookamunga burger.

The Kookamunga Challenge consists of  4 pounds of pure beef, on a fresh baked bun, topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and cheese. If you and only you eat it ALL, plus the fixings, in under 60 minutes it's on us, not to mention that you get your picture on the Kooky Canuck wall of fame!

Not only is there 4 pounds of 80/20 ground chuck meat, there is a pound of bun on the top and a pound of bun on the bottom, and 1 1/2 pounds of the fixings totaling the 7 1/2 lb massive burger. The manager brought it out in one hand and a stopwatch and camera in the other. I graciously accepted it and looked a little scared as he explained the rules.

WOW it is HUGE!

Yep, def in shock over the size of the burger but to eat it all in only an hour...OMG!

Well, it was definitely worth a try!

I hadn't even made a dent in it yet.

Well, this is what I had left with a little time left.

The interesting thing about it is that if I would have started the challenge with the mindset that I could actually finish it, I think I actually would have and could have done it. When I started, I was eating slowly because in my mind, there was no way that it was going to happen. Yet, when I got a fourth of the way into it I started to get more confident. And the stakes were definitely raised when the guy at the table in front of me said he would pay me a $100 if I could finish it.

All of the waiters kept coming by to check on me and see what my progess was after the realized that I wasn't just an "average" girl and that I could actually take down some food (and put it in my hollow leg, like my dad always says). I tried to have them give me some extra time because I was a girl and all the waiters were on board, but the manager was too busy to take the time and said that they would bring it up in their next meeting and that I would have to come back and try again. (Not so sure that will happen, but if it does, I WILL finish it!) Yet, despite the disappointment of not being able to finish it in the alloted time, they did tell me that I was the best girl that has ever tried it and that I got the farthest out of any girl! (That was enough vicotry for this attempt!) In fact I was pretty stocked because I beat one of my "heros" Adam Richman too! What more could a girl ask for?

My friend Kirstin lives in Memphis, so she joined us for the crazyness! She could barely finish a 1/4lb burger! (Wimp!)

This was lots of fun and I am glad that I was able to attempt it. Although I hate losing, this one I think I will  have to just be ok with my attemp. Yet, I did make it onto the hall of shame (2nd row from the bottom). Now I can check that one off the list of many things to do and many restaurants to try and many food challenges! Hmm...I wonder what will be next?

Throwed Rolls

I love food and because of this I love watching shows about food. Especially places that like to do different, unique, and interesting things in their restaurants. We just so happened to be driving by Sikeston, MO, and although I wouldn't have thought anything different about this random city, it is home to Lambert's Cafe -  The Home of the Throwed Rolls. This was also a place that I have always wanted to go after watching it on my of my food shows. You order and sit down and they actually throw rolls at you from across the restaurant.

Unfortunately, when we pulled up the parking lots was packed. It seemed like a pretty big restuarant though, so we decided to take our chances. As soon as we pulled the door open we were bombarded with a sea of people. We could barely even step foot inside the restaurant. I was definitely bummed out at this point yet fared our way through the people and put our name on the list. Unfortunately, it was going to be an extremely long wait. In the process of this, my dad sought out the take out where we just ended up ordering the rolls to go so that we could at least say we had one. Yet, this wasn't good enough for me. How do you go to Lambert's Cafe, the home of the throwed rolls and not even get a roll thrown at you? The rolls lose their lust without them being chucked at you from across the room.

This is just one side of the Huge restaurant. The guy in the suspenders is the roll thrower!

We were TOTAL tourists!

Since I REALLY wanted someone to throw a roll at me (a statement I never thought that I would make), my dad and I asked an offical roll thrower to throw one at me. Now I am an offical roll catcher!

My roll thrower friend with his roll cart.

The rolls were actually delicious, light, and fluffy with the perfect amount of butter lightly brushed on the top. I would definitely recommend anyone that is driving through Sikeston, MO (because I know no one is going to just go visit Sikeston) to stop and get a roll "throwed" at them! In case Sikeston isn't on your route, there are also locations in Ozark, MO and Foley, AL.

New Years in Indy

My dad and I were lucky enough to be able to spend New Years with my extended family. I haven't seen most of them in a couple of years and it was the first time me and all 3 of the Robarge kids were together in a long time. It was such a blessing to end the year and start a new one with family. My dad and I drove to Indiana, and although it was a loooong drive, we had fun! The trip was interesting and consisted of some deep theological conversations as well as jokes and road trip games. This was the first time I got to meet my cousin's kids, Leah and Amanda. The kids were all adorable and I am so thankful that I got to meet them.

We had lots of fun playing Wii Fit Plus. We got everyone involved including Grandma and Grandpa and Amanda. I think Leah would have liked to play if she could stand by herself! :)

We also got to play our traditional football game! Of course we had fun and I especially enjoyed the fact that there was snow on the ground.

We also got to play games including cards and my favorite game and a family tradition, Egyptian Ratscrew!

Hannah was kind enough to teach me how to make snow angels.

We pretty much had fun just hanging out. I loved just being with my family. It felt like we were little kids again and brought back a lot of fond memories. It was sort of surreal because now instead of us kids being the kids, some of the kids have kids of their own!

I had so much fun playing with the girls. Leah has a big cowlick in her hair and so I decided to style it sort of like I used to style mine when I had short hair. Then Hannah and I didn't want to be left out so I did ours too!

And of course we had to take our traditional thumb-sucking picture too.

(yes we know Drew, you didn't get the memo of the thumb! hehe)

The trip to Indy was so much fun! I am so glad that I was able to go and to see everyone. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful and amazing family. I sure hope that I won't have to wait a couple of years to get to see everyone again. Hawaii for Christmas next year right?