Fun with recipes....

So we had some friends over last night and I wanted to share a couple of great recipes for you to try at home...

Chicken Bacon Poppers

4 boneless chicken breasts cut into 1/2 in cubes

1 pound of sliced bacon (hickory smoked or applewood ... go crazy) Cut each slice into thirds.

2 Tablespoons of barbecue seasoning

1/2 cup brown sugar

toothpicks

After cutting up the chicken and bacon, wrap one piece of chicken in a piece of bacon, using a toothpick to secure the bacon to the chicken. In a separate bowl, mix the barbecue seasoning and brown sugar. Coat each piece of bacon-wrapped chicken in the barbecue/brown sugar mixture and place on a boiler pan or elevated baking rack (this is so the bacon fat can drip down). I usually take the remaining mixture and sprinkle it on the poppers before I put them in the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Makes about 48 poppers. They are AWESOME!!!!!

Candy Bar Crescent Rolls

1 roll of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

1 Snickers Bar

1 Milky Way

Cut each candy bar into 4 pieces. Unspool the crescent rolls from the tube. Wrap one piece of the candy bar in a piece of crescent roll dough. Once all 8 rolls have candy bars in them, place them on a non-stick cookie sheet. Bake them according to the directions on the crescent roll tube (12 minutes at 425 degreees I think).

One of the best and easiest desserts EVER!!!!!

Personal Training

I met with Ben this afternoon to discuss hiring him as a personal trainer. With 191 days until the wedding, I have a lot of work to do and I'm quickly running out of time to do it. Currently I'm about 235 pounds and my goal is to be 210 by July. My dream would be to be at 200, but I think that 210 is a more reasonable goal.

The thing that impressed me about Ben was that he wants to try different things to find out what will work for me. When I have worked with a personal trainer in the past, it's pretty much been the same workout week after week. Ben appears to be more focused on my goals and finding things that will not only work for me in the gym, but also at home as well.

I hate the fact that I am so out of shape. I hate that my gut sticks out so far that I can feel the skin stretching. I hate the fact that I don't feel attractive. I hate the fact that I have tried so many times in the past to get into shape only to fail - again and again and again.

We should have a snow day (yet again). It'll be a chance for me to get caught up on paperwork and emailing. I'm just so ready for winter to be over.

Back to school

Yesterday was our first day back following the Christmas holiday. We were fortunate that we had a two-hour late start due to the extreme cold. It's always hard coming back to work after a holiday. Seems like it takes the staff two or three days to shake the rust off. The kids come back with all sorts of energy, but then by the afternoon of the second day their energy starts to flag.

I've actually had a good first couple of days. It's actually been nice to be back in the classroom. For as much as I crave vacations, it really feels good to be back on a daily schedule. When I'm on vacation, I try to motivate myself to get things done, but it never seems to happen. At least at school I'm able to be productive.

I have a meeting tomorrow with a personal trainer. I took his spinning class over the summer and really enjoyed it. My friend Andy works out with him and recommends him. We'll meet to talk about what my goals are and what his training philosophies are. Looking to get fit for the big wedding. If I don't start now, then when?

Until next time....

Last Day of Break

My Winter Break ends today. :-( We had a week and a half off for the holidays and it wasn't as productive as I would have liked. Of course I'm never as productive as I would like during the holidays. Every year I go into the break with a list of things that I want to get done and I never do.

On the plus side we do have a two-hour late start tomorrow. Temperatures in the state are bottoming out tonight and the wind-chill is expected to be in the -20s. Since I teach in a rural district, we consider it to be cruel to make kids wait for a bus in sub-zero temperatures. So I get to sleep in a little bit - yay!

I am worried about too many snow days. In June I am taking a group of students and parents to Washington D.C. for a four-day trip. If we have too many snow days, the school year will run into the days of the trip. While I know the district will allow us to go on the trip, it just freaks me out that the school year could run into the second week of June! We've already had 3 snow days. There are only 4 more days available before it runs into the trip. Crossing my fingers for a milder winter. Ugh

Monthly Goal

My friend Lyndsey is doing a different challenge each month. This months challenge is drinking at least eight 8 oz glasses of water each day. This is a doable first goal. Now for me I'm only counting water and iced tea as counting towards the 8 glasses. Soda doesn't count (and I can choose not to partake of soda anyways).

I'm learning that it's all about the small goals and then building on those successes.

Brand New Year

This is the year.

In a little more than 6 1/2 months Matt and I will be legally married. It seems like only yesterday that the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to marry in Iowa. The wedding plans have gone smoothly so far, but we have a lot to do in the next few months.

Instead of making a resolution for 2010, I am making SMART goals. I hope to have those posted in the next couple of days. One of my goals is to blog at least once a day just to get my thoughts out. Some days it may be a lot, some days, not so much.

Here's to an outstanding 2010.

Game On!

You are The Hierophant

Divine Wisdom. Manifestation. Explanation. Teaching.

All things relating to education, patience, help from superiors.The Hierophant is often considered to be a Guardian Angel.

The Hierophant's purpose is to bring the spiritual down to Earth. Where the High Priestess between her two pillars deals with realms beyond this Earth, the Hierophant (or High Priest) deals with worldly problems. He is well suited to do this because he strives to create harmony and peace in the midst of a crisis. The Hierophant's only problem is that he can be stubborn and hidebound. At his best, he is wise and soothing, at his worst, he is an unbending traditionalist.

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