What I am Thankful for

Heyy!!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone!!

Things have been crazy as usual..I was able to take a personal day this past Friday and obviously had off from work on Thursday for Thanksgiving, so I got to go home and spend time with my family.

I know this is a late post, but I wanted to list the major things in my life I am so thankful for! Here we go!

1. My loving boyfriend Marc!

Marc:)

 

2. Date Nights with My lover!

Crab cakes!

Chocolate molten cake!

3. Pumpkin pie!

First time ever, homemade pumpkin pie by me!

 

4. Cheesecake!!

Caramel Apple Streusel Cheescake Bars!

One of the best desserts I have made- Thanks pinterest!

5. Family—love my sisters, parents and brother!

My youngest sis Annie and I at Thanksgiving Dinner!

 

6. Family Meals

yummy Thanksgiving dinner!

 

7. Kelly– my family’s puppy!!

Baby Girl!

8. and of COURSE..my blog and all my readers!

 

With life and training for my half marathon, blogging definitely has fallen to the wayside. I do hope to continue to post for frequently in the future!!

My half marathon is Next sunday… so today was my longest run ever…11 MILES!! So crazy and an amazing accomplishment for me. Also, even after this length of time, I knew I could pound out another 2 miles! which is great!

I would have to attribute my success alot to my unconventional pre-workout snack and quick energy snack during my run..

CANDY CORN PUMPKINS

!

seriously..they give me the best energy haha. Alot cheaper and tastier in my opinon than shot blocks and clif goo! Weird, but true..I will be pulling these out mid run during my half…no shame!

Anyone else have weird running snacks?

What are you all thankful for?

 

Have  A Great Sunday

PS WALKING  DEAD ON TONIGHT:)

Jess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday “Poke” Cake

Hi!!!

Wow, I have been missing for so long. It is really hard to keep up with consistent blogging with a full-time job and training for my half marathon!

My training so far is going GREAT! Caitlin and I are running approx 3-4 times a week, either early before work or later after work. Our long runs are saved for the weekend. Tomorrow is our 8 miler!! Wohoo! I am excited. It felt great for me to run 6.7 miles last weekend, that is probably the farthest (I am aware of) that I have run!! We are fast approaching the half marathon date which is December 2nd..so we haven’t had as much time to prepare, but its because we decided rather last minute to train! Oh well!

I am just so impressed with how strength training and pilates have built up my endurance. It’s so crazy, my runs are so much better than EVER! I really see the benefits of HIIT, pilates and other strength training..not running does not mean you are no longer in shape!! Such a great feeling haha.

Other than that, the other big thing going on in my life:

Marc’s 24th Birthday!!

My Lover!

Having to work all day makes it hard to prepare a meal in general, but on top of that  a cake as well!! I made a simple casserole (which I will share on another date!) and I decided to make a super easy POKE Cake!

Caramel White Chocolate POKE Cake

Ingredients:

For cake:

1 box of yellow cake mix

1 tub of cool whip

2 boxes hershey’s white chocolate INSTANT pudding

4 cups milk of choice (I used skim)

25 Nilla Wafer cookies (crumbled via food processor or crush by hand!)

For Caramel Drizzle:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp butter

1-2 tbsp milk/cream (as needed)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to temperature listed on cake box of choice (I used yellow cake).

2. Prepare cake batter according to box mix.

3. Pour batter into casserole dish and bake approx 25 minutes or until golden brown (see directions on box for accurate time of baking).

4. Allow cake to cool for a few minutes; then proceed to “Poke” several holes throughout the cake. (Tip, the tool I used was a lime crusher used to make alcoholic beverages, and produced wider holes. I would recommend finding a tool that was not as wide so you can fit more holes on the cake!)

5. Mix up both boxes of white chocolate instant pudding with 4 cups milk for approx 2 minutes; allow to sit until mix begins to thicken.

6. Once mix is slightly thick, but remains pourable, pour mix on top of cake and spread.

7. Take your thawed out cool whip and spread all or most of tub on top of layer of pudding.

8. Place cake in fridge and let set at least 1 hour or overnight.

9. To prepare caramel drizzle, take 1/2 cup brown sugar and place in sauce pan at medium heat; add in butter and milk as needed and desired thickness. Allow the mix to cook down for awhile (I am stilll perfecting this method- my caramel was not as smooth as I would have liked). Once caramel reaches consistency desired, I took the cake from the fridge and drizzled the top with it.

10. Prior to serving, sprinkle crushed nilla wafers over top…and ENJOY!!

 

Yummm so good! Please try poke cake, its so easy and yummy! I will def be trying other combinations. Anyway I am headed out for tonight, happy friday everyone! I will try and post sometime again this weekend!

 

Jess

Sweet Treat Saturday!

Hi Friends!

Finally, I am able to stop in on a weekend and do a quick post! The past two weekends have been crazy, but so fun! Two weekends ago I went home for the weekend to spend time with my youngest sister who is 15, while my parents celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary!

Last weekend, I had my sister and two of my best friends from high school come up to celebrate Halloween! It was so nice to go out, spend time with them and get dressed up!

I was hello kitty for the first night we celebrated! I made the ears as well. What can I say, I am obsessed with hello kitty..no shame!

Marc was Captain Jack Sparrow! He is awesome at putting together halloween costumes!! He put it all together himself from goodwill!

I was a Flapper for the second night!

Such a great weekend, I love dressing up! What was everyone else for halloween?!

OTHER NEWS:

The other dietitian I work with and I have decided to train together for a HALF MARATHON Dec 2nd!!! We are going to be pretty low key and run approx 3 times a week! I have not been running regularly as I have noted before, but have given myself lots of time to rest, so I feel it is appropriate to attempt this race!

This morning we had our second training run! Then I followed it with a yummy bagel breakfast, cream cheese and coffee! No pic, but nothing better than that on a Saturday morning!

One more thing! I have a fun recipe to post for you all! Its very simple and you could make the cake component from scratch but I just wanted short cuts, so here you have it!

Vanilla Chocolate Mint Oreo Stuffed Cupcake With Mint Oreo Cream Cheese Frosting!

Makes approx 24 large cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 box vanilla cake mix

3 egg whites

1 cup water

1/4 cup oil (or applesauce for a healthier twist!)

1 box mint chocolate oreos

1 container cream cheese frosting 

24 Cupcake liners!

Directions:

1. Prepare cake mix as detailed on cake mix box and heat oven to 350! Adding applesauce is a great substitute for the oil as I feel it makes the cupcakes even more moist!

2. Grab your cupcake tin, place liners in the tins and take one oreo and place it in each lined tin.

3. Pour batter over the oreo!

4. Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes or until golden brown!

5. While cupcakes bake, take approx 4 oreos and crumble with food processor (or you can also place them in a bag and smash them the old fashioned way!). Then take the crumbles and mix into the cream cheese frosting container slowly. (This was messy for me, you may want to transfer the frosting into another bowel before mixing together!)

6. When cupcakes have cooled, you can frost your cupcakes! I chose to try and be fancy and place icing in a plastic bag, cut the tip and make swirled icing! Warning: you may use more frosting this way, so you may need more than one container!

Enjoy this treat! Not the healthiest dessert, but totally worth it!!

Have a Great Saturday!!

Jess:)

Happy Halloween & Arctic Zero Review!!

Hey Everyone!!

Happy Halloween!

It has been a long time since I have actually posted which I apologize about! I will be updating more soon, but today I have a long overdue review that I wanted to share with everyone! What might that product be?!

Arctic Zero!

Arctic Zero is among many other companies that produce “healthified” desserts. These products allow consumers to not only enjoy a sweet treat, but to do so without guilt or without compromising their health! Arctic Zero frozen desserts are sold in pints and are very low in calories! The entire pint only contains 150 calories, which honestly is unheard of! In addition, these desserts are all natural,
gluten free, lactose free, kosher,  low in sugar, fat free, low carb and made with high quality whey protein concentrate!

•Arctic Zero, unlike other “healthy” desserts is sweetened with a proprietary blend of monk fruit concentrate and organic cane sugar.
There are no artificial sweetners used in these products or any type of sugar alcohols. Monk fruit is a melon which is super sweet and new on the market as Splenda has recently come out with a new sweetner using this fruit! Actually, monk fruit concentrate is 150 timessweeter than sugar and one gram will replace 40 teaspoons of sugar (source http://www.myarcticzero.com/faq.php).

As a Registered Dietitian working in a clinical setting at a hospital,I am always looking for new products to recommend to my patients.
Diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases today and a large majority of my patients have already been diagnosed with Type 2
Diabetes or are pre-diabetic. Also, many of my patients are overweight or obese. Therefore, I was very interested when I heard about this product! Many times “healthy” desserts do not taste as good or sometimes have even more hidden added sugar. This is not the case with Arctic Zero!

My conclusion after taste testing the flavors sent to me by this wonderful company is that these products are a great
alternative to ice cream. This product is great for those who are diabetic or looking to lose weight or may have an intolerance to gluten, lactose etc.  Some of the flavors I felt were better than others; in addition, this consistency and taste is not as rich as true ice cream which is to be expected. This product is better when you let it sitout on the counter for a few minutes prior to consumption; as it softens, the texture becomes creamier like ice cream!! 

Read below for my individual opinions of each flavor I sampled!

*I came in contact with a representive from Arctic Zero who agreed to have me review and write a blog review! I did receive the artic zero samples free of charge; however my opinions are my own!

 Vanilla Maple:

I am starting with this flavor because it was my FAVORITE! It was seriously sooo delicious. It tasted similar to a whipped topping, not too much of  a maple flavor but that wasn’t a bad thing.  This baby did not last long and tasted GREAT when I topped my white choc chip pumpkin bread with it! Once again as I mentioned above, this dessert does get creamier as it gets warmer- so I would top my whipped cottage cheese desserts with this and it would begin to melt and was heavenly! You would never know this is healthy, low fat and so low in calories. I totally recommend this flavor and will be ordering more of it myself ASAP! I give this flavor an A++++!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter

I really enjoyed this flavor as well. As it melted, it had a very similar flavor to a typical chocolate ice cream. I love chocolate, but have never been a huge chocoalte ice cream fan. This was very good and I enjoyed snacking on this at night. I really did not taste the peanut butter flavor shine through which would have been nice to taste, but overall I would give this flavor an A-!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie

This flavor was one of the flavors initially I was more excited to try! Honestly, I was disappointed when I tasted it. To me, it had more of a fake cookie/dessert flavor. So my grade for this flavor would be a C. However, my good friend visited me last weekend and tried several flavors as well. She LOVED this flavor and could not stop eating it! So really it goes to show you, everyone is different! I usually do really enjoy mint and chocolate together, but for some reason this one just didn’t do it this time for me!

Coffee

I was suprised how much like coffee ice cream this flavor tasted like! There was no fake after taste or bitter taste! I don’t typically consume coffee ice cream, but this reminded me of a frappuccino you get from starbucks! So Definitely a win in my book! A is the grade coffee receives. Can’t ever go wrong with coffee!!

Strawberry

I really enjoyed this flavor as well! I liked to top my healthy cheese cake desserts with this strawberry flavor to make it strawberry cheesecake! It had a different strawberry flavor, like an italian ice dessert or popsicle. This flavor also seemed to get the least creamy as it melted. However, I still really enjoyed the flavor and its gone! A is the grade I give strawberry!

Pumpkin Spice

I usually am obsessed with ALL things PUMPKIN! Sadly, this was not a winner in my book. This was the first carton I opened and it had a really artificial, super sweet flavor. I will say, the more I tried to taste it, the better it got. However, I really don’t think I will be able to finish this carton. I must shockingly give pumpkin spice a C!

Once again, another great chocolate flavor, very similar to a true chocolate ice cream when allowed to set outside of freezer for a few minutes. This one actually tasted pretty comparable to the peanut butter chocolate flavor. Therefore, I give this flavor an A- as well! I was excited to have extra chocolate goodness to enjoy!

Overall, I totally loved these desserts. I thought they were great in the fact they are light and taste good! Great way to indulge without overdoing it in the calorie department. Also, I felt that there really would be no way I could eat the whole pint, even if it was only 150 calories. With other regular ice creams I always seem to think I could down the pint; these desserts seem very satisfying in the way that I didn’t feel the need to go overboard, so that is totally a plus.

I would say that I feel that full-fat ice cream, candy, desserts, etc all have a place in our diet. I LOVE chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, pumpkin pie, cheesecake and so on. It is unrealistic and not right to deprive ourselves from these foods. However, I feel that we do not necessarily need to consume these on a daily basis or at every meal. That is why I feel this dessert is great to incorporate into your diet and really you can still be treating yourself with a healthy dessert!

This product 100% has my stamp of Approval as a Registered Dietitian. I would recommend this product to anyone who is looking to control their intake, lose wt, has diabetes, is lactose intolerant, gluten sensitive, or simply someone looking for ways to enjoy a healthy treat! Take advantage of this product if you have it available at local stores. Sadly, I will have to order my future pints online, but it is worth it! Especially the vanilla maple!!:)

Please check out more about these products at their website:

http://www.myarcticzero.com/

Follow them on twitter at:

https://twitter.com/myarcticzero

Like them on facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/arcticzero?ref=search&sid=718145033.2659252978..1

Purchase Arctic Zero for yourself at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&keywords=arctic%20zero%20frozen%20dessert&tag=arczer-20&index=gourmet&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325

Have you ever tried arctic zero?!

Jess:)

Recipe Redux- Orange you glad it’s Fall?!

Hey Bloggies!!

I have been absent for wayyy too long. I almost forgot about the recipe redux recipe posting today as well!! Things have been so busy and I will be doing an update since I have lots to share, but for now..here is my october recipe which features my favorite carotenoid… PUMPKIN!

Pumpkin is an amazing source of vitamin A, fiber AND it is low in calories! Pumpkin is considered a carotenoid, which gives it, its amazing orange color. Carotenoids help protect our body’s from free radicals and help with strengthen our immune system’s functioning.They are also high in Lutein & Zeaxanthin which protect the eyes against free radical damage and prevent formation of cataracts!

Pumpkin also tastes AMAZING!!

Here is my favorite way to consume pumpkin (besides pumpkin pie!)

White Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

*You can use this recipe to make pumpkin muffins, a loaf of bread or several mini loaves- I chose to make muffins and the leftover I made a mini loaf with, which is pictured here!

1 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1/2 tbsp baking powder

1 1/4 Cup Pumpkin Puree

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

cinnamon to taste

1/4-1/2 cup of white chocolate chips (depends on how much you like!)

1. Combine pumpkin, milk, egg and vanilla.

2. In a seperate bowl mix together cinnamon, flour and baking powder.

3. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet until smooth.

4. Add in white chocolate chips

5. Transfer batter into mini loaf pans, one loaf pan, or cupcake dish!

6. Bake for 25-30 Minutes depending on your oven at 350 degrees!

7. Top with whip cream or Ice cream! (I topped mine with vanilla maple Arctic Zero Ice Cream!!)

Enjoy your Carotenoid containing Dessert!!

Jess:)

get the InLinkz code

Post Fail & Random Updates!

Hey!!

Thanks everyone for the great feedback on the last post about diet myths!! It was so fun to read your comments and hear your opinions!

I meant to post yesterday for WIAW; however, something happened with my post when I was adding pics and I lost half of my post!!! Total #FAIL. At that point, I didn’t have it in me to re-type the whole post so I just called it a night. You understand!!

So back to what I tried to post about yesterday haha. First of all, this week at work has been CRAZY! On Monday and Tuesday, the two other dietitians I work with were out of town for the FNCE (Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo). Unfortunately, I was hired AFTER they had planned the cost and gotten the travel expenses, etc covered by the hospital. Therefore, I had to stay and hold down the fort at the hospital (or I could have paid like 300 bucks to attend–too frugal for that though!). This was fine with me and I feel comfortable at work since I have been there for almost two months already. Monday was fine, but Tuesday I didn’t leave until 5:30, which we usually work until 4:00! Just a lot of things I had to handle but I made it through. Some parts of the day were stressful, but I am proud of myself for handling it all.

Yesterday was also a really busy day at work. Today finall things settled down and I got caught up with all my nursing home work and had some time in the afternoon to relax and schedule my eye appointment! I haven’t gotten my eye checked in forever— I am in need of new glasses and my contact prescription is expired so I can’t order them online anymore!! DARN!

Another exciting thing for me is that this weekend I got the Iphone 4s!! Now you may be wondering why I didn’t get the iphone 5; well you should of seen the junky flip phone that I had hahaha. People always made fun of me saying “they still make those?” and things like that; but I was on a family plan with my parents who paid for it and they wouldn’t pay for the smart phone. I also really couldn’t afford to pay my parents for the smart phone chargers either, so it was okay. I am frugal anyway, but I decided that now that I have a good paying job I should get a nice phone. I have heard that the 4s is not much different than the 5 and also, it was on sale from 200 for 100! Also, for me, since it is my first smart phone, really anything is amazing compared to what I had!! So I have been having fun taking pics and finding new apps!

This weekend I didn’t really post since I was just hanging out and mostly at Marc’s. It was such a nice weekend; here are some pics of my weekend and eats as of lately and some other random pics in the mix!!

Cheesecake! Shared with my Lover!

Dijorno Pizza! A great frozen pizza– def recommend!

Grilled Turkey and Guac Wraps with steamed veggies and parm cheese! Not too pretty but delicious!

Up Close and Personal!

Roasted Chicken Soup and Salt Bagel from Wegmans– Random Combo but delicious!

Makeup! eyeslipsface.com has great prices and free shipping for orders over 25 bucks! I got 15 items for 26 bucks– and its great quality! LOVEE

Food Service Appreciation Week Display–Caitlin the other Dietitian I work with and I made this display outside our hospital’s Cafeteria to honor the hard work of our foodservice employees!

So some of these pics are pretty random, but they are mostly the pics I have taken with my new iphone!! I love weekends because I do eat a lot of things that I don’t in the week—-like pizza and popcorn (at the movies!). Weekends are a fun time for me and I like to eat out a lot or do quick things with Marc! You only live once, so its fun to indulge in that extra slice of Cheesecake  every now and then!!

Oh another thing I did this weekend—Marc and I went to the movies to see Looper!

It was pretty good! Different than I thought it would be— I think I may need to see it again to make sure I totally got every part. I understand what happens at the end, but I didn’t really like how it ended. It was def not a typical movie and it was good to see in theater! If you are looking for a very different movie that really makes you think, this is it!

Also another thing on my mind-HALLOWEEN!!

I love halloween and I can’t wait because I have my sister and a lot of friends visiting the weekend before actual Halloween to dress up and go out. I have no idea what to be…well I do have some ideas but I wanted to see what you guys were being, if you are dressing up or going to any parties!! Any cheap, but cute ideas?! I would also like to be warm haha so I don’t want to have to be in a skimpy outfit, not my scene!!!

Have you seen any movies lately?

What are you being for halloween??

What are some of your fav foods to eat on the weekends??

 

Jess:)

Nutrition and Diet Myths!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

After a VERY long week, I am so excited to have a nice weekend to relax. I am on-call at the hospital this weekend so I will probably have some patients to chart on, on Sunday, but until then I am free from work!

At work today I was thinking about specific nutrition/diet questions people ask a lot or believe..I find myself having to explain these concepts to people very frequently! I thought it would be fun to list a few things that people tend to ask me about or have this common belief! So I am in a sense “myth busting” here!!

Here we go!

1. Sweet potatoes are better for me than white potatoes!

Yes sweet potatoes are a powerfood and an amazing source of vit A, Vit
C, b-6, manganese and calcium. However, white potatoes do offer a
great amount of nutrition in another way! They offer us more folate
and potassium than a sweet potato. Actually, white potatoes have more
potassium than a banana, but you would never really know since
advertising in the media always has us focused on bananas as the best
source of potassium! Both sweet and white potatoes are rich in fiber
as well as carbohydrates. Both are going to affect your blood sugar
the same way! White potatoes are not inherently worse for you or are
going to make people gain weight; sweet potatoes are carbohydrates too
and do add extra calories as well! Do not be fooled into thinking you
can never have a white potato because sweet potatoes are better for
you. They are good for you in different ways!!

2. Detox Diets/Juice Cleanses-

These diets drive me CRAZY!! I get the whole, “I ate a ton of junk
this weekend and this week I need to detox my body by consuming
healthy, WHOLE foods”; but I do not get when people think it is
necessary to only consume juices for several days to “cleanse” their
body. Really, these juice cleanses do nothing to actually “detoxify”
our bodies. We already have our own natural detoxifying process
working within our bodies!! Our kidneys and liver process chemicals
and then will eliminate them from our bodies through sweat, urine and
feces. Other chemicals are excreted through our lungs and skin! The
“detox” juices many people buy or the tea that people drink, really do
nothing for us except provide empty calories and sugar to our body. We
may feel less bloated and loose some weight, but really this is water
weight and once we incorporate REAL food back into our diet, people
typically gain this all back. Hopefully, you can see why it is so
silly to go on a detox diet!! Eating clean, whole foods and getting
back to eating balanced meals after a weekend (or week, or WHATEVER!)
is the best way to detox! Just let your liver and kidneys do the rest!

3. Gluten-free diets= weight loss.

Okay so first things first, lets define gluten:The mixture of
proteins, including gliadins and glutelins, found in wheat grains,
which are not soluble in water and which give wheat dough its elastic
texture.(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gluten)
Gluten is found in wheat, barely, rye and oats (unless they are
processed in a gluten free facility–assume they contain gluten. Cross
contamination occurs in the factories and although oats do not
technically contain gluten, they may have come into contact with
gluten containing products; therefore, only oats that are labeled as
“gluten free” are safe to consume for those with a gluten allergy or
gluten intolerance.)
Today, gluten-free is a new fad diet! Many people do need to follow
this diet for health reasons; however, many people do so as a way to
loose weight. Gluten is simply a protein as I mentioned above; this
does not mean that removing this protein from your diet will help you
loose weight. Gluten-free products STILL have calories in them and
still can make you gain weight if you do not watch your portion. Many
people also follow the Paleo diet which I find fascinating; however, I
do feel that it is not necessarily the most realistic diet for most
people to follow. I feel that the researchers behind this new diet
have a lot of interesting ideas and information; however, I do not
think they thought about how it can apply to everyday people. IF you
do follow the Paleo Diet that is your own choice and I am not trying to disrespect or offend anyone who does follow this diet! I just
simply do not recommend it as I feel that every food group has a place
in our diet! This is my personal opinion and obviously everyone is entitled to their own:)

4. Processed foods Are BAD for me!

So I just read this article on another blog today about processed foods. SO many people are scared of eating foods that are processed for various reasons. Obviously, there are better products to choose than others, but really in my mind it is unrealistic to think that in our life we will never eat a product that has more than three ingredients in the list! But back to what the article I read talked about- Everything we eat is processed in reality! Processed foods are those that have to go through some sort of process to get to the point where we can buy them! So for example, when we buy apples in a bag, THEY are PROCESSED! They did not originate in the bag..they had to go through different processing steps to get INTO the bag. So really when you think about it, the only way we wouldn’t ever be eating anything that is processed is if we dug up a potato from the ground and ate it right then and there! I encourage everyone to be aware of the foods you choose and read ingredient lists–but do not get too overwhelmed or obsessed if there are more than 3 ingredients! We should strive to eat whole foods and fresh foods–but its okay if we want to have that poptart or have that special cereal that isn’t organic!!

There you have it! Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Any other diet/nutrition myths that drive you crazy or that you wonder if they are true or false??

 

Jess:)