Good Day at 68130

WE MET THE NEIGHBORS!!! Yes this deserves capital letters because I have been wanting to make friends....

Eric was out fertilizing the lawn.....

and he found a toy in our backyard and took it over to some of the parents who were out in their yards with their kids. I noticed this from the kitchen and quickly put on my FLIP FLOPS and crossed the yard to meet them. Let me tell you there are A LOT of kiddos in our neighborhood. 4 of them are starting kindergarten next year. There are some cuties and can you believe this 2 of them have Type 1 Diabetes. Interesting I know! I think we will hang out some in their backyards with them.

And to start the day.....Eric made me breakfast!

I know pretty extravagant huh!

Tomorrow's my last day of work for the week!! 4 day weekend for me!

Nutrition Philosophy

I was recently asked to share my nutrition philosophy and I've been thinking about it ever since. So tonight........

Jill's Nutrition Philosophy:
I believe you can consume anything in moderation and that physical activity is as important as diet when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle.

Dietitian pet peeve: I hate it when everyone assumes that I eat healthy 100% of the time because I happen to be a dietitian. Look above....everything in MODERATION....so yes I do have a cookie or two now and again or eat french fries at a restaurant but I don't do it everyday.

On the reading front I started the new Jodi Picoult book House Rules at the suggestion from my mom and again she's not disappointing me (both my mom and Jodi if you're wondering)

We're exciting to be visiting the County Line this weekend for Easter. Yes it happened to be that I grew up with the road right in front of our house being the Stafford/Reno County Line. If you click on the link it will take you to my mom's blog. We haven't been back since Christmas and I'm very excited to go home while not taking call for work.....HALLELUJAH!!

When I asked Eric what I should blog about tonight....he says that its should be about our lawn.....Eric says its lawn time and therefore he will be fertilizing the lawn tomorrow evening.....not sure what this entails but I will watch....... :-)

On the decorating front we still haven't found a color for the office that we like alongside the purple accent wall.....I went to Sherwin Williams today to buy my $4.70 quart of paint.....Yes I do know exactly how much one costs and they know us on a name basis...I'm serious.....Sad I know especially when we've only painted one wall.

A few are duplicates (only 2) but still

Our collection of sample paint

Oops here's a straggler

Well this was a RANDOM smorgasbord of information but Yeah for tomorrow being Wednesday!!

Southwest Chicken Salad

AS PROMISED.....SOUTHWEST CHICKEN SALAD.....But First Oh what a beautiful morning...Oh what a beautiful day (feel free to sing along)

Today was GORGEOUS....I ran/walked outside for 50 minutes then I sat out on the patio for a bit and read while soaking up the rays. AWESOME!!! I think I scared the neighborhood kids who cut through our yard to get to their friends house. One little boy hovered as close as possible to the neighbors fence. I didn't realize I was so scary looking!

But back to the featured recipe from my most recent edition of Taste of Home:



Here's what you'll need:

4 cups cubed chicken
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 cup chopped red/green peppers
1 cup chopped red, sweet or green onion
1 cup minced fresh cilantro (I don't love cilantro so I used a smaller amount)

Dressing: (I didn't follow the recipe exactly....so here's my version)
3 T lime juice
3 T olive oil
1 T honey
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
(Adjust as you see fit)
Optional: Fresh Avocado

Nutrition Bite on Avocados:
Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid. You may have heard that they are full of fat.....well they are BUT its a healthy fat, monounsaturated fat which can help lower our cholesterol. So I'm not saying go hog crazy on avocado but its definitely a food to add into your diet occasionally. Did I mention they are yummy!

The great thing about this recipe is you can use it in multiple ways.

Wrap:

Dinner on Sunday night!

Salad:

Lunch on Monday.....me not taking a turkey sandwich means that this is a GREAT RECIPE!

Pita:

I couldn't find any at the grocery store. I'm not enjoying getting used to a new Krogers since the move...

Lettuce Cups:
Quesadillas:

Dinner on Monday night! Eric said it smelled like Chipotle....a very good thing in his mind

As you can see you REALLY need to try out this recipe! Eric and I were eating it as a dip while we waited for our quesadillas to cook. The possibilities are endless.....Let me know if you think of any other ways to use this Southwest Chicken Salad!

Apologies all around!

Yes I know it's been a few days since I've posted. I do have some excuses though!! Here you go!

1. Wednesday I got up early to go to a class at 5:45 at the gym. I know dedicated right. Well I only lasted 15 minutes in the class when I had to walk out (yes embarrassing) but I was either going to pass out or throw up so I thought it best I leave. So I went and sat on one of the couch's for a while and then since I was at the gym I felt like I needed to work out so I got on the treadmill and struggled through walking one mile. Sad I know. So off to work I went and I never felt good, mostly I was light headed. (And no I'm not preganant....seriously once you're married if you feel sick that's the first question out of everyone's mouth....)

2. Thursday I called in sick. My first one in a long time. (Technically I don't get sick days and I was going to talk the day unpaid until.....)

3. Friday. Off to Lincoln I went for a lunch and I got a referral (number 9 this month).....well his surgery wasn't scheduled till 2:00....4:00 o'clock rolls around and he's just now going into surgery. What does this mean for me.....well that I'll need to go back to Lincoln on Saturday. WAIT...K-state plays...I decided I wasn't coming back which meant I decided to wait till he got out of surgery and did my education in the hospital.....got home at 8:30.

We aren't going to talk about what happened Saturday. But I'm proud of the CATS!! We watched The Blind Side and it was just as good the 2nd time. I told Eric he should pop it in the DVD whenever I have a bad day......Seriously I really like the movie.

Today we went to Cirque de Soleil. Alegria was the title of our show. It was good but a little different than what Eric and I were expecting. It's amazing how some of those performers can get their body to contort.

These ladies were CRAZY flexible.

Tonight's dinner.....Southwest chicken Salad....YUMMY! Tune in tomorrow for the recipe trust me you don't want to miss it! Here's a sneak peak...

Another SUCCESS from Kraft.com!

Yes folks kraft.com is turning out to be a great resource when it comes to quick and easy weekday meals.

Tonight's Menu: Creamy Chicken with bacon and penne

Ingredients:
4 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)

2 cups penne pasta, uncooked

1/2 cup (1/2 of 8-oz. tub) PHILADELPHIA Chive & Onion Cream Cheese Spread

3/4 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (As you will see from the picture we omitted these.....Eric and I aren't big on tomatoes)

2 green onions, chopped
Dashes of garlic powder, seasoned salt, chili powder and black pepper

Now I didn't follow the directions exactly like the on-line recipe so here's my version

1) Cook bacon slices in microwave.

2) Heat large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken (I mixed the seasonsing from above with the raw chicken before adding to the skillet....a little of this a little of that) Cook 5 to 7 min. on each side or until chicken is done (165ºF). Remove chicken from skillet and chop into small pieces. Tear bacon into pieces and add to chicken. Set aside

3) Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package. Meanwhile, cook cream cheese spread and broth in skillet (used to cook chicken) until cream cheese is melted and sauce is thickened and well blended, stirring constantly with whisk. Stir in tomatoes and onions; cook 2 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

4) Drain pasta; return to pan. Add sauce and chicken and bacon mixture; mix lightly. AND ENJOY.....BECAUSE this is YUMMY!

As you can see we had stir-fried vegetable medley and a garden salad. (I think we might have some ice cream later on :-)

Now I know all of you wonder where do blogger's work.....well folks for me right here on my couch. My wonderful husband was kind enough to snap this shot and seriously people this is my blogging spot and all my wonderful (lol) blogs are composed here :-)

Wondering what I'm holding in my hand....YES that is The Blind Side on DVD! I almost NEVER buy movies...the last movie I bought Sex in the City....I've been waiting (not so patiently for weeks for it to come out...I know I know patience just isn't in my blood) No Eric and I aren't watching it tonight but my friend Anessa is coming to visit this weekend and she hasn't seen it so we are excited to watch it this weekend! I just really liked the movie when Eric and I saw it in theaters!

Anessa and I back in Manhattan before a basketball game this year!

Yeah for Hump Day being tomorrow.

5 Ingredient Dinner!

Another Monday has come and that means a quick and easy dinner here at the Ladd household so we can get out the door to our small group on time. On the menu tonight.....

Chicken Nacho Bake

which comes from Kraft.com Use this link to find the original recipe. We have 3 recipes on the menu this week from Kraft.com and I'm excited to share the results with you all!

4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 sour cream
1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips
1/2 cup shredded cheese

PREHEAT oven to 400ºF. Place chicken on foil-covered baking sheet. Slice three cuts on top of each chicken breast with sharp knife.

TOP each chicken breast evenly with salsa, sour cream and tortilla chips.

BAKE 20 min. Remove from oven; sprinkle with cheese. Bake an additional 10 min. or until chicken is cooked through (165ºF).

ENJOY! As you can see from the picture at the top we had rice and stir-fried vegetables from the freezer!

It's was a GREAT weekend to be a WILDCAT!

Eric and I had a fun weekend. Friday night we just vegged on the couch and watched basketball. I think that having me fill out a bracket this year to compete in Eric's work competition was the best thing for our marriage and my sanity. I of course don't mind watching our KSU Wildcats but basketball ALL DAY Long can become a little much for me at times. BUT having a bracket I'm interested and invested in the games. (Oh and I happen to be beating Eric at the moment :-)


I started reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks this weekend and have already finished it. It was such a quick read. I would recommend it to all you readers out there.




On Saturday morning I woke up around 8:30 on my own and decided it was an omen for me to go to a kick boxing class at the gym that started at 9:30. Oh my gosh.....I loved it. Today my body is not loving me and I'm in a significant amount of pain. But No Pain No Gain.....Right?

Eric and I invited a couple over to watch the game with us. Dana and I were in the same sorority at K-State and she is now working on her masters at UNL. Eric and her boyfriend Mark hit it off at a wedding we were all at in December....you guessed it they bonded since they were all missing the K-State game by coming with us. There were a few of them just huddled over by one of their blackberries keeping up the score of the game. So Dana and I were more than happy to let the boys do their "sports" talk while we caught up. I had the makings for panini's but I'm so mad that I forgot to take a picture. Oh well, next time.

Today, Eric and I went to church and afterward headed to an outdoor mall so I could purchase some more workout shorts. You see the shorts I've been using are from high school are "starting" to get a "little" worn out. Plus I only have 2 pairs that I'm using. And Eric was okay with this purchase because if I hold onto these shorts for as long as I did my last pairs, the cost per wear will be GREAT!

One of the old pairs...if you look closely you'll see the beginnings of a few holes.

And my new ones!!! Aren't they cute. Eric was a great sport and helped me figure out which ones I should get.

Hoarders

Yes I believe that I would have qualified for the show hoarders if you had looked inside my car before yesterday. Let me tell you when you're car is basically your traveling office it starts to get a "little" cluttered. Eric and I haven't taken my car anywhere for a LONG time mostly because he wouldn't fit in my car.....no I'm not exaggerating. I forgot to take a picture before I started cleaning yesterday afternoon. (Yes, I came home from work a little early but as Eric said....I was just cleaning out my office so I could be more efficient) On my behalf it's been so cold and gross all winter I didn't want to brave the elements especially when we were back at the apartment with no garage. My excuse since my car has a home.....super busy with work. I haven't been very busy this week which is good and bad at the same time.

Check out the messiness on the floor.....not good!

Part of the trash I threw away....Yes I did fill 3 trash bags worth of trash....sad I know

The backseat in the middle of the process....this looks AMAZING compared to what it did look like. You couldn't even see the floor or the seats before I started.

Last but not least the trunk. Maybe the best looking at the start of the process.

I can officially say that my car is very picked up at the moment.....I don't say clean because Eric wasn't home to put together the shop vac so I didn't get to vacuum it out. Guess it will wait till another nice afternoon. I can't believe after the 2 nice days we've had that its going to snow.....so not excited....

What's For Dinner??

Well if you don't have a lot of time to get dinner on the table. I have a quick and easy solution for you BAKED BURGERS! Eric and I are always running around trying to get dinner around before our small group on Mondays and now with our new exercise routines we have even less time. (And Yes both Eric and I made it to the gym tonight after work.....and I had a set-up today which I got to set the patient up during working hours WAHOO)

SIDE NOTE: I forgot to update you all on my cut finger situation. We ended up not going to the Urgent Care which was the best decision. It is healing nicely and only occasionally hurts....sorry to keep you all on the edge of your seats for so long.

Baked Burgers:

• Browned Hamburger
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Sliced Cheese
• Hamburger Buns
  

Add ketchup and mustard to ground hamburger. This was already ground in the fridge so after mixing I heated up the concoction in the microwave.

Since it's just Eric and I. When I make a recipe with hamburger I usually cut it in half to avoid having a lot of leftovers (I'm not a huge fan of leftovers) so I usually have about 1/2 pound of hamburger ground up sitting in the fridge.

Place one slice of cheese on bottom of bun. (We used pepper jack but choose what your family likes best) Top with meat mixture. Place top of bun on-top of sandwich and wrap foil completely around sandwich.

Place in 350 degree oven until cheese is melted.

MMM!! Unwrap and ENJOY!! This was a sandwich my mom would make for my dad and our farm hands when they required a meal out in the field at night!

Here's my Nutrition Tip of the Day! Look for WHOLE WHEAT when you're shopping at the grocery store. Just because it says wheat doesn't mean its the healthy whole grain/whole wheat version!

Omaha 68130

Well it's back to Decorating 101.....wait I never had that class in college. Maybe that's why I'm struggling so much when it comes to deciding how to make this house our own. Even before buying our first home I worried about how I was going to make decisions when it came to decorating it. (You think I might be a little bit of a perfectionist...)

This weekend Eric and I got our hands dirty (literally) and rolled up our sleeves. Saturday after our fabulous trip to the gym we got busy painting our accent wall in the office. Now I was super excited to paint.....yes really....you see I've never gotten to paint walls in a house. When I was little I begged and begged to have my room be pink and I got what I wished for; however a couple of years later when I wasn't so hot on the color pink I wanted my dad to paint it a different color. Well that didn't happen until with enough persistence he finally painted it again but white.....that way he wouldn't have to do it again......sad I know :-)

Sorry, got a little sidetracked down memory lane.....back to Saturday....Eric was surprised to see my enthusiasm for this project but was more than happy to let me paint away under his supervision....you see Eric is somewhat of a painting expert (okay compared to me at least)

See how excited I am!

Yes, Eric tackled the high parts....

Look at that handy work...not bad for a first timer

As you can see we are still struggling to decide what the other wall colors should be.....ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED!!

Any other view! As you can tell I'm a little excited :-)

Today, Eric and I (mostly I) painted a second coat on the wall. I thought I had hit jackpot when I found that Sherwin Williams (where we happen to be buying our paint) has a website where you can "paint" your room and try out different colors. Sherwin-Williams Color Visualizer was something I thought was going to save us a lot of money from buying all those sample sizes of paint. BUT I was very disappointed when we bought a sample after church that I swore THIS IS GOING TO BE IT! However, unfussy beige turned out to be kinda white....not what we were looking for. SO back to square one!!! ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATE!!

In other house news....we hung our Ladd sign....I had a follower comment that they wanted to know where Jillian my favorite sister-in-law :-) had gotten the sign. Here you go! SIMPLE EXPRESSIONS WEBSITE This is what Jillian had to say about the purchase..."I emailed Kimberly to place the order. Kimberly is very helpful and will make samples of the item in Word for you to approve before ordering. When Jaclyn (who gave a similar sign to Jillian for a wedding party gift) gave it to me, she had Kimberly make the stickers, buy the board, paint it, and then stick the stickers which I think she said was around $25. I only ordered the stickers from her and purchased the wood, painted, and put the stickers on myself."

And hung our leaves that we bought at Hobby Lobby last week!

Sorry for the long post....but we've been busy around here! Eric and I even made it to the gym again. We packed our gym bags and headed there right after church. It worked out GREAT...maybe we'll make a habit out of it! :-) Have a WONDERFUL MONDAY!

I'm BACK!!!

Well today Eric and I made a big step in our married lives.....WE JOINED A GYM! Now you would think we would have joined as a couple but it was actually cheaper for us to get the student (under 26 rate) as individuals. Oh well when I turn 27 and if we are still members here we'll probably become a couple.....(lol)

Now as a former-avid exerciser (6 days a week of at least 45 to an hour a day) I will admit I fell off the workout train. I'm embarrassed to admit it and as a dietitian I felt so guilty for slacking in this department. In my defense, this winter has been a rough winter. Eric and I think it might have been worse than just Seasonal Depression I was pretty down in the dumps the last few months. It was a combination of things but mostly my job, moving to a new place and the rough Nebraska winter. Thanks for sticking in there with me babe! I was also a little burnt out on exercise coming off of the 1/2 marathon and then being an exercise fen (sp??) before our wedding (yes I admit I worked out a couple of times a day in the month or two leading up to the wedding) EXCUSES ASIDE.....I'm ready to hit the ground running again.....literally :-)

After we moved into our house I vowed to make a change and start exercising regularly again. Last week I tried out Anytime Fitness free with a 7-day pass.....I went 3 times which is way more than I have been exercising but I just wasn't excited about the gym. Not many people only 4 treadmills....and NO ARC TRAINER and there was only one group fitness class that I would have had to pay $75 extra for...no thanks.


So today I made Eric go with me to another gym close by...Lifetime Fitness.

It is HUGE and they refer to themselves as a club.....but that's not why we joined. During our tour I fell in love with it. The atmosphere is awesome and it's really what I've been looking for. Group fitness classes are included...there are so many treadmills I couldn't even count them all. And there were at least 15 arc trainers throughout the cardio room. It met Eric's requirements as well......which are a racquet ball court and a sauna. And Eric was excited that they have a cafe. Which we got to have lunch at for "free" today. I got a Fiesta Quesedilla and Eric got a chicken pesto pizza with a strawberry/banana smoothie. The menu has nutritional information right on it which was great.

Other Amenities Included in our membership:

• spin class
• in-door rock climbing
• indoor/outdoor pool access
• in-door hot-tubs
• sauna and steam rooms
• locker rooms with everything you need to get ready including blow dryers ect
  
• And much more....
  

And for additional money we have access to:

• Life spa/salon
• Cafe
• Raquet ball club
• and more....
  

Now how am I going to make sure I get to they gym:

• pack my workout bag and put it in my car....I drive by the gym on my way home from work so if I don't come home first then I won't be as tempted not to go
• find workout classes I enjoy because if I look forward to working out I won't want to skip my workout
• get up early.....not everyday but occasionally I need to go in the morning especially if I know its going to be long day at work (for instance Tuesdays....they always seem to be a long day that often goes into the night)
• get Eric on the work out train with me.....then I'll feel guilty if he goes and I don't (what can I say...I'm kinda competitive)

Well wish me luck on my journey of getting back into shape and enjoying to work out again. :-) It's sad how quickly you lose it when you don't use it. Oh well all the more motivation to get back out there. I think this experience will be good for me when emphasizing with my future clients that I work with. I know its not easy to get in your workout with everything going on in your life but there are so many benefits to exercise and I truly believe that it can make you healthier, happier and more productive!

I'm excited for the old me to be back and what a great way to Spring Forward into Spring!

Patience

Well Patience isn't something I have a lot of.....Eric definitely rounds me out well since his middle name should be patience.

So when I bought bananas 2 WEEKS AGO to make banana bread I did not expect to have to wait 2 weeks to make my favorite yummy quick bread. And to be honest I probably should have waited a bit longer but I just couldn't wait anymore (again that patience thing)

3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, well beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter milk (don't have any...no problem....mix 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 T of vinegar)

Combine first five ingredients. Add dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk, beating after each addition. Optional: Add nuts or chocolate chips (see below) Bake in large loaf pan or two small loaves or in muffin tins at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes (if using large loaf pan)

Want to mix it up?!?!
Banana Nut Bread: add 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
Banana Chocolate Chip Bread: add 1/2 cup chocolate chips

As you can tell from the picture above this recipe has been used often and has definitely gotten some batter on it.......which I believe is the sign of a TASTY recipe that all of you should try out there!

Today I just went with the traditional banana bread. Can't wait to have some for dessert tonight!! YUM!!

And I Thought marriage would fix my problem....

You know growing up with an 11 letter last name that has some silent E's in it can be challenging at times. I remember in Kindergarden we had to line up in order of shortest to longest last names and Jeremy Hildebrand and I sat there counting out our last names to see who's was longest....mine was by 1 letter.....

SO when Eric proposed and I knew I was going to have a 4-Letter last name I was pretty stoked to say the least (no offense mom and dad) Marrying Eric met all of my requirements in a new last name....

--shorter than Fritzemeier.......check
--not to far down in the alphabet.....check (why you may ask...you don't want your kids to be in the back of the pack when it comes to getting there name called and seating arrangements)

Back when I called pharmacies, doctors offices, to make appointments ect. I always would say Fritzemeier...and then automatically begin to spell it F-R-I-T (you get the picture)

What I didn't anticipate were the problems I would have with my new last name....but it never fails that atleast once a week someone asks me Glad, Laid....for goodness sakes. If I am picking up a catering order for work I have to make several attempts at placing/picking up my order. Especially Panera, I don't know why they struggle so much but they do. (BUT I love panera's food. I did a lunch with them today and it was YUMMY!)

Well better get to watching my CATS! EMAW!