It’s been forever since I’ve posted! We’ve had lots of fun times, but for now, I’m going to do a silly middle-school-girl esque “survey”.

• A: Age: 23 (I’m robbing the cradle…)
• B: Bed size: Queen
• C. Chore you hate: Folding laundry. We live out of laundry baskets- rarely do things make it into my dresser.
• Dogs: Silas, Siley, Tiley, Poo-eater
• E. Essential start to your day: COFFEE! French press, please! And you know what? Coffee tastes even better when your husband makes it for you every morning because he gets up earlier than you
• F. Favorite color: Blue
• G. Gold or silver: White gold? The only piece of “real” jewelry I have are my wedding/engagement rings- and they’re white gold (aka rhodium-dipped gold)
• H: Height: 5’3.75″ (the extra 0.75inches count!)
• I: Instruments that you can play: I played cello once…
• J: Job title: Child of God, Wife, Nanny to triplet boys, Front Desk Associate at Body Structure
• Kids: none, besides the animals, of course
• L: Live: Lexington
• M: Mom’s name: Luigene (think “blue jean” but drop the “B”)
• N: Nicknames: I’ve never really had a nickname that “stuck”. My dad used to call me pee-wee, every now and then I’ll hear a “Holl”
• O: Overnight hospital stays: December 2008- I didn’t have enough blood… it mysteriously left my body. 4 units of O+ blood later and I was fine! And when I was a baby- for my Celiac disease diagnosis
• P: Pet peeve: Wet socks.
• Q: Quote from a movie: I am the most awful quoter ever. From movies to commonly said phrases. I WILL say them incorrectly. Ask Daniel…
• R: Righty or lefty: Right
• S: Sibling: Mags, 19; Cat, 14; Matt, 12; Ashley (step) 18; Kayla (step) 10
• T: Time you wake up: 8-9am
• U: Underwear: yes?
• V: Vegetables you dislike: I dislike Okra. Daniel HATES beets!
• W: What makes you run late: I’m always running late. I usually forget something inside and then I end up going in and out at least 5 times before I can get out the door. Also, I like to start “projects” at the very last minute, i.e. putting new handles on my dresser drawers about 10 minutes before I had to take D to class. It was obviously the best time to start a measuring-intensive project…
• X: X-rays: Whenever I had a stress fracture in my femoral neck, 2007 I think.
• Y: Yummy food you make: Sometimes it’s yummy… just check out the RECIPES page for some of the things we’ve whipped up!
• Z: Zoo favorite animal: I think zoos (how do you pluralize “Zoo”?) are kind of cruel. The animals are kept in their tiny little cages all day

Whelp, that got me tired enough to go to sleep, thanks for reading!

This morning I had some time to kill before work.
I took the pup for a run in the gorgeous weather we’re having! Silas had a blast trotting along (ahem, pulling as hard as he could on his leash- he needs better training) and he even got to hop around in some of the neighborhood creeks.

When I got home, I decided to whip up a delicious dinner. I made Greek Lentil soup and Green Greek Rice- both recipes called for ingredients that I had in the pantry! I love using pantry staples to create a meal!

Greek Lentil Soup

This soup is very easy to make. DO NOT make this soup unless you have red wine vinegar (or lemon juice if you’re in a pinch). The acidity brightens up the earthy flavors of this filling soup. Garnish with crumbled feta!

Ingredients

• 1.5 c. dried lentils (rinsed and picked through)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 4 c. water
• 1 bullion cube (chicken, beef, vegetable- or use 2 c. broth and 2 c. water)
• 2 TBSP tomato paste
• 1 TBSP red wine vinegar (plus extra to taste)

Directions

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add onion, carrots and celery, cook until tender
3. Add lentils, water and bullion- bring mixture to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes
4. Add in tomato paste, reduce heat and cover for 30-40 minutes or until lentils are tender (don’t let it go too long- you don’t want lentil mush!)
5. Stir in tomato paste and red wine vinegar (or other acid); serve.

Green “Greek” Rice

This rice is extremely simple to make. If I had planned our grocery cart a little better this week, I would have purchased a few kalamata olives, feta cheese and artichoke hearts to turn this side dish into a pilaf!

Ingredients

• 1 c. brown rice
• 1/2 c. frozen chopped spinach (or 2 c. fresh)
• 1/2 TBSP butter
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. dried mint (I didn’t have any- I used 1/8 tsp. peppermint extract!)
• 1/2 tsp. dried dill
• 2 c. water
• 1 bullion cube (chicken, beef, veggie- or just use broth instead of water)
• 2 tsp. lemon juice (or red wine vinegar, or lime juice- whatever acid you have on hand)

Directions

Combine everything in a pot, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30-40 minutes until rice is cooked and the liquid has been absorbed.

Mowgli and Silas sat still for about 0.52008 milliseconds- just enough time to participate in a quick interview:

Q: What is your goal in life?

• M: To be the master of the gutters and to teach that dog to stop licking my rear.
• S: To drive mom & dad crazy by being the best bell-ringer EVER. And to be the best at throwing a ball to myself. (We taught Silas to ring a bell whenever he needed to go to the bathroom, now he rings it anytime he feels like it…)

Q: What is your favorite thing to eat?

• M: Dog food
• S: Cat poo (even better if it’s frozen!) But mom’s homemade puppy treats are delicious too!

Q: Who is your best friend?

• M: I love anyone who will pet me
• S: Rooney! He is SO funny, he has the most awesome fur, he plays tug-of-war with me, he likes to drink water at the same time as me. People even asked if we were brothers when we were puppies!

Q: Show me your favorite self-portrait

M: I like this picture because it shows my awesome fangs. I look awesome.S: This is a picture of me and my favorite kibble (I think I’m about 8 weeks old here). I wish I could find that kibble…

Q: What is your biggest fear?

• M: I am fear. (Mowgli is so dramatic)
• S: I hate when dad carries the broom around. I am also terrified of the hair dryer- I hopped back into the bathtub (which I NEVER do) because I was so shaken.

Q: What do you want the readers to know about you?

• M: I may look tough on the outside, with my torn ear, my broken tooth and my weepy eyes- but I really just want to cuddle with you. If you let me nibble on your chin, we’ll be friends forever!
• S: If you call my name and open you car door, I will go home with you. If you walk past my house, and I’m not on my leash, I will walk with you. Mom say’s I’m just too friendly! And, for the record, I DO NOT have the wrong head attached to my body. That’s just how I was made!

Best friends forever (M wishes S was still that little…)

Questions? Comments? Leave us a message and we’ll answer them!

We stumbled upon this kettle corn recipe online. After testing it many times, we finally found the directions that give us the best kettle corn! You may have to vary these directions depending on how your stove works (ours is gas, the pot gets hot VERY fast)

Ingredients

• 1 TBSP oil (canola or vegetable)
• 1/2 c. popcorn kernels
• 1/4 c. sugar
• salt (to taste)
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

Directions

1. Mix together sugar and cinnamon (if using), set aside
2. Heat 1 TBSP oil in large pot over medium to medium-high heat
3. Drop in 5 popcorn kernels
4. Spread oil around pan (adjust heat so that oil doesn’t burn)
5. After first kernel pops, add 1/2 c. popcorn kernels
6. Use a splatter screen to protect yourself from popping corn kernels
7. Shake the pot so that the kernels don’t burn
8. After ~20 kernels have popped, sprinkle sugar mixture over the popcorn (the sugar will cool the popcorn down for about 30 seconds, so grab a spoon and make sure kernels are coated with sugar)
9. Continue to vigorously shake pot to keep kernels and popcorn from burning
10. Once 85% of the kernels have popped, pour popcorn into bowl and add salt to taste

WARNING: Freshly popped popcorn will be VERY hot (hot oil + hot sugar= burns!) Wait about a minute before devouring your delicious concoction!

You can also add cinnamon into your sugar mixture, Daniel thinks the final cinnamon-kettle corn tastes like Apple Cinnamon Cheerio’s (I think it just tastes delicious!)

Store bought tortilla chips cannot compare to these. These are also much more figure-friendly than store-bought chips. The chips are also thicker, so they can stand up to your most delicious dips! Add some cumin and lime juice before baking for a zesty chip, add garlic powder, Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of oregano for an Italian-inspired snack! You can also sprinkle cinnamon sugar over these babies to make a perfect vehicle for your favorite fruit dip!

Ingredients

• Corn tortillas (in the Latin section of your grocery store)
• Oil (canola, vegetable, olive oil)
• Seasonings (salt, cumin, garlic, oregano, cinnamon, sugar…)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cut a stack of tortillas into 6 wedges
3. Spray cooking sheet with oil, spread wedges on cooking sheet in single layer
4. Spray tortilla wedges with a little more oil, add spices
5. Bake for 10-20 minutes (depending on your oven and amount of chips), or until edges of chips are golden.
6. Remove chips from oven (chips will crisp up as they cool)

This is a simple soup that has a great flavor. Serve with crusty bread (perhaps with the addition of gooey cheese melted under the broiler?)

Ingredients

• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped into small pieces
• 1.5 cups dry red lentils (make sure there are no stones)
• 1/3 cup Arborio (or short-grain) rice
• 6 cups water
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• smoked paprika (garnish)
• lemon (garnish)

Directions

1. In a medium pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat; add chopped onions and carrots
2. Cook vegetables until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes
3. Add lentils and rice to pot, stir to coat with oil
4. Add water, salt, cumin and pepper; bring to a boil
5. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer
6. Cook for 45min-1hr (depending on desired consistency of soup)
7. Add more water if needed to thin soup
8. Garnish with paprika and lemon juice; serve

It’s no secret that I, Holly, don’t really follow sports. At all. However, we have found a few other couples who don’t really follow sports either, so all of us non-sport fanatics (hey, we’re all a little crazy) are getting together to “watch” the game. And by watching the game, I mean having the TV on in the background while we talk and watch commercials. I have other friends who are die-hard Steelers fans, so I do hope the Steelers win so Ashley and David have a good week!

The highlight of Superbowl Sunday, for me, is cooking! After church, I got to work on several recipes:

• Chocolate Fudge Cookies
• Red Lentil Soup
• Homemade Kettle Corn (and Cinnamon Kettle Corn)
• Homemade Corn Tortilla Chips
• Healthy Spinach and Artichoke Dip (recipe adapted from The Daily Garnish

Silas is being funny tonight. Daniel and I are snacking on popcorn while watching Grey’s Anatomy (Yes, my husband will sit with me through an episode of Grey’s Anatomy). Silas has been watching Daniel’s every move while he ate popcorn: from bowl to mouth.

I apologize for the absolutely terrible video quality, but I think it’s pretty silly (I am also 135% obsessed with our dog, so I think everything he does is awesome)

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I should also add that Silas had been just STARING at the popcorn for about 3 minutes before I started filming… he has perfect comedic timing!!

I’ve been testing out the Body for Life workout. Basically, you alternate strength training with high-intensity interval training (HIIT). A typical week would be:

• Monday: Upper Body
• Tuesday: HITT
• Wednesday: Lower Body
• Thursday: HIIT
• Friday: Upper Body
• Saturday: HIIT
• Sunday: Rest (and then you would do Lower Body on Monday)

Now, I wish I could say that I have been consistent with doing a workout EVERY day… but that’s just not the truth. I don’t have much of a strength training/lifting background- and I like how the BFL strength training workouts take me through a routine. If I were to “lift weights” on my own, I would just do however many I felt like. With BFL, you increase the weight as you decrease your repetitions until your arms/legs feel like jello

Here’s a link explaining the BFL workouts a bit more: Workouts.

Now to tie this post back to it’s title: superfast workout. I am not very good with time management, so it’s a great option for me to have a 20 minute HIIT workout “on hand”. Check it out HERE

And… this post looks super boring without a picture…

After that lengthy post, I thought I’d show you where we keep all of our groceries!

This is our fridge. In the door, we have condiments, milk, jams, miso paste and sauces. In the fridge we have:

• (Top shelf) eggs, Chocolate fudge cookies, almond butter, pumpkin butter, bread.
• (Middle shelf) Apples, mushrooms, Vegetarian “Chili” Soup, Ginger Tea and yogurts.
• (Bottom shelf) Tofu, Fragrant Ginger-Chicken Soup, cooked chicken.
• (Lower drawers) Cheese, Lunchmeat, Lettuce, Squash/zucchini

There isn’t a whole lot in our freezer, in the summer we’ll have homemade ice cream and frozen fruit, but right now we have some frozen veggies and a few GF muffins that I can take to work.

This is our pantry.

• Oils, vinegars, seasonings and bananas reside on the top shelf
• Canned tomatoes, beans, rice, dried beans, quinoa, popcorn kernels and pasta live on the second shelf. I like to keep the dried products stored in glass jars so I can easily tell what we need to replenish!
• Our oats, honey, coconut butter (recipe to come!) and root veggies (potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic) stay on this shelf
• The second to lowest shelf houses protein powder, creatine (for my hulk of a husband), our mandolin and measuring cups
• The lowest shelf holds a bin of tupperware

This is our spice cabinet, located to the left of our sink. The top shelf has baking spices and the lower shelf has spices and seasonings for everyday cooking.

This tiny nook holds flours (gluten free and regular), sugar, cocoa, cutting boards and Silas’ food (in the tin).

And last, but not least, our countertop shelving unit that holds our tea & coffee supplies (beans, sweetener, measuring scoop) and some other miscellaneous dried goods that wouldn’t fit into the jars.

That’s a tour of the food-storage sections of our kitchen, next I’ll post about how we de-cluttered our counter tops (but I might decide to post about a workout or about the animals first!)