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Rainy Day Recipe

January 12, 2015January 12, 2015 The Appalachian BarbieLeave a comment

Good afternoon everyone! It’s my favorite kind of day here in East TN-gloomy and rainy. Some might think that’s crazy, but I love a rainy day stuck indoors because it forces me into productivity around the house. And there’s nothing like cooking up something cozy in the kitchen on a day like today. Soups, roasts, casseroles…any kind of comfort dish really can make for a great way to spend a drizzly day in. It’s also a great time to let your crock pot do the cooking for you. Just toss in all your ingredients and let that bad boy go all day while you’re cleaning out your closets (at least that’s what I need to do today.)

If you’re like me, you’ve had plenty of chili in your day. So the other night I wanted something that would warm my bones but have a little different pizazz than your regular run of the mill chili. Thus was born my Spicy Chipotle Chili! The smoky flavor of the adobo sauce and heat from the chile peppers was a delicious surprise on my taste buds. It’s also full of fiber, low in calories and fat and super filling, so make sure to watch your portions. As with all my recipes, you need to adjust to suit your taste. I love spicy stuff. So instead of 2 tablespoons of adobo and 2 chile peppers, you may want to cut back to 1 and 1, or you may want to alter the seasonings a bit.

Spicy Chipotle Chili

1 lb lean ground turkey

1 small onion, or 1/2 a larger onion

1/2 large green bell pepper

2 chile peppers in adobo sauce

2 garlic cloves

1 can hot chili beans

1 can 3 bean blend (or regular red kidney beans if tri-bean is not available. I used Kroger’s Simple Truth Organic Tri-bean)

1 can of chili ready diced tomatoes

1 small can of original rotel

2 tablespoons of adobo sauce from can of peppers

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2-1 teaspoon salt (start with 1/2 and taste, add more if needed)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Grease a large skillet with nonstick or olive oil. Dice your onion, peppers and garlic and add to skillet with ground turkey. Cook meat, stirring until crumbled and cooked through. In crock pot, add remaining ingredients. When turkey blend is done, add to crock pot and stir to combine all ingredients. Let simmer on low for 6 hours, or until hot and bubbly.

And that’s it! You can eat this with a small baked potato, or some crackers or a sandwich, or just on it’s own. I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I did. Now it’s time for me to get off the computer and start working around the house. These closets aren’t going to clean themselves!

Chakra Balancing and Aura Repair….Just Goin’ In for a Tune-up

September 6, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie3 Comments

So this week I did something a little different.

I’ve been feeling really down in the dumps lately and can’t seem to pull out of it. I am a firm believer in the power of positive thinking and usually when I get in these funks I can just take a moment to count all my blessings and pull right on out.
But over the past month or two I’ve just felt like I’m poisoned inside my head and no matter what I do I can’t shake this negative energy. I have been dealing with what I can only guess is anxiety, as in, there is a constant weight on my chest that makes me feel like something bad is going to happen or something is wrong. I also have felt extremely lonely. I attribute this to busy, conflicting schedules with Mitch and my friends. I exist within a strange paradox in my life–in my job, I live the life and hours of the bar, which means my typical work-week is Friday through Tuesday, 9pm-4am. However, my morals and extracurriculars no longer reflect that schedule and has become quite a bit more boring and traditional. So the people I now share common interest with tend to live in a Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm world. Because of that and Mitch’s new school schedule, I spend most of my days alone, only having personal interaction with people when I go into work and they are under the influence. Sometimes it gets a little depressing.

So with all that being said, I’ve just been down lately. I am firmly against prescription medications like anti-depressants and mood elevators, and refuse to go that route. (no offense to those who do take these, this is just my opinion and personal choice.) On a whim and also as a sort of last resort, I paid a visit to a local shop downtown that sells a lot of holistic items and also is home to it’s own ‘spiritual center’ where they conduct everything from tarot readings to yoga classes. On this particular day, they had a healer in the shop who was skilled in aura repair and balancing chakras.

Well…..why not. I decided to give it a whirl, even if I’m not a firm believer in all this stuff.

I will stop here and kind of explain my religious and spiritual beliefs. I usually do not speak about this sort of thing because I feel like your spiritual habits should be something personal for you and no one should be able to tell you you’re right or wrong. But in the interest of this blog making sense, I suppose I should just briefly fill you in on my line of thinking.

I am not a religious person, so much as I am spiritual. I believe there is a greater power out there, that there is a meaning to all this, this life, but I do not know what it is so I will not judge anyone on what THEY believe the meaning is. What I DO know, is that energy is tangible. You can use a device to measure the wavelength of my heartbeat, thus measuring my ENERGY. So for me, if that energy gets imbalanced or tainted from being around more bad energy than good, then that’s probably gonna throw me out of whack. And this is precisely why I decided to let a middle aged bald man in capri pants, covered in wiccan tattoos, conduct a chakra balance and aura repair on me.

(If you are unfamiliar with the term ‘chakra’ please familiarize yourself with the 7 basic chakras here . )

The reverend, ordained by the Church of Divine Light, was a very nice man, who spent no less than 45 minutes explaining his techniques to me, from the tools he was going to use, (everything from chimes and bells to oils and rocks and music.) to the placement of his hands so I could be as comfortable as possible. Considering that I’m no idiot, being in a closed room with an unfamiliar man who is attempting to put me in a meditative trance and perhaps touch my chakras, you can go ahead and guess that during this session I never fully let my guard down, as I was ready at a moments notice to issue a swift kick to the family jewels if he tried any funny business. After a lengthy introduction, I laid down on my back on a massage table. He then placed various precious gems, crystals and minerals around and on my body and turned on some soothing music. He then walked around my body with a bell and chanting a mantra while counting backward from 10, trying to guide me into a meditative state. After I was relaxed (somewhat) he then went into his own head, placing his hands on or several inches above various areas of my body.

Ok, I don’t wanna sound like a crazy person. But either this guy really has something going on as far as transferring energy, OR he just has a medical condition that makes his hands boiling hot. Because even at 6″ away from my body, I could feel the heat from his hands, like he was holding a space heater over me or something!

This went on for about 35 minutes before he slowly asked me to come back to the world of the living. For homework, he recommended I get a small bundle of sage and start smudging all the negative energy off of me every time I leave work. I left the building a skeptic, but only $25 poorer so I wasn’t too upset.

Cut to yesterday morning when I woke up. The first thing I noticed is that I was SORE. I have been at a stand-still in the gym for like 2 months and no matter what I do I can’t get sore. Before I went to my chakra balancing session, I had done the same glute workout I’ve done for the past 2 months so it was nothing new. But when I got out of bed I could hardly walk to the bathroom I was so sore. Also, my honey and I actually had some intimate times early that morning, which I could count on one hand the number of times that has happened. And overall I was just in a gee-golly terrific mood.

Now maybe this is all mental. Maybe the soreness is just a matter of coincidence. Or maybe there’s something to this energy thing. All I know is, I feel lighter, more positive. Work wasn’t an act of torture last night. So I’m gonna go back. Maybe take advantage of some yoga classes at my gym. I don’t see any harm in taking an hour of relaxation and reflection for myself each week. And if there is some positive benefits to this aura repair and chakra balancing, then all the better.

On that note, I hope you all have a blessed and wonderful weekend. And get out and try something new! You never know, it might just change your life.

Pizza-tow up from the dough up!!!

August 6, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie1 Comment

Hey everybody! I hope y’all are getting to enjoy every last drop of summer 2014! Over the past month, my little tomato garden has exploded into a rainbow of various shades of red, orange, yellow and pink. I have had more tomatoes than I know what to do with and have went what I have deemed as “tomato crazy.” Since one of my all time favorite things to eat is marinara sauce, I decided to give it a whirl with my own tomatoes, and I must say it turned out beautifully. And what better way to enjoy this delicious concoction than on everyone’s favorite food–PIZZA?! I have been making my own pizza dough for awhile now and had a lot of toppings in the fridge, so I threw it all together and it was amazing. After posting a pic on Instagram and Facebook I got a lot of people asking me how to make it. It is a little more detailed than just calling Domino’s so I’m here to guide everyone through the entire process, step by step. Hopefully I won’t leave anything out!

Ok, first and most importantly, you need to set the mood. Slip into something comfy and flip on the Frank Sinatra station on Pandora.

Seriously. I have made this pizza and sauce twice now, and this time, after serenading my sauce with Sinatra, it turned out better. You also are gonna want to have a nice clean workspace, with plenty of elbow room and a sinkful of soapy dishwater to make cleanup easier. I also like to keep a large “trash” bowl handy for the same reason. Instead of making a million trips to the trash can, you can just chuck everything in there and dump it at the very end.

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 400.

While your oven is heating, we’re gonna start the process of prepping your tomatoes for roasting. Gather all your ripest, reddest tomatoes. For aesthetic purposes only, you want to use red tomatoes. I know a lot of people prefer romas for making sauce, however, as you can see, I have used a mixture of better boys, heirlooms and cherry tomatoes and it turned out just as good. I used quite a bit of tomatoes, as they varied in size. But I would say if you are using standard medium sized tomatoes, you would want to use around 6 or 7.

Also, at this point you want to go ahead and get your water pots going. We’re going to blanch the tomatoes in order to peel the skin quickly and easily. Blanching simply means dunking your tomatoes in boiling water, then ice water. So go ahead and fill one pot with water and turn it on HIGH so it can start to heat to a boil. You will also fill another pot with heavily iced water and set it beside it on the stove, but obviously not on any heat.

Ok, while we’re waiting on that to boil, (remember, a watched pot never does) we can start prepping the tomatoes. Using a small paring knife, you want to remove the core from one end and make a small, shallow “x” in the other end.

You should also take this opportunity to taste test. YUM!

Back to the recipe!

So once you have that all finished, your water should be boiling and it’s time for your little maters to take a bath.

Using a slotted spoon, gently drop your tomatoes, a few at a time, into the boiling water for about 30 seconds, altering time depending on size.

Pull the tomatoes out and immediately immerse them in the ice water pot for about 30 seconds.

A perfectly blanched tomato should have skin that is wrinkling off the flesh.

Go ahead and continue this process for all your tomatoes. When you’re finished, don’t dump your hot tomato water! You can turn it off, but don’t pour it out. We can use that water later on to thin out your sauce if it is too thick.

Ok so go ahead and start peeling your tomatoes. When done correctly, it should take no effort to gently pull the skin off the flesh.

When you have all them finished, go ahead and quarter them up into large pieces, around an inch in size, and spread them on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Next comes the onion. I always wait until I see how much tomato I actually use to determine the amount of onions and garlic. This is also a matter of taste. I wanted “roasted onion and garlic parmesan” sauce. If you don’t like those flavors, don’t add them. I personally used a whole medium yellow onion, diced it, and spread it around the tomatoes on the pan.

Next comes my FAVORITE PART!! GARLIC!! I used a TON of garlic cloves of various sizes, but I would say maybe 7 normal sized cloves? 8? It’s a matter of taste. So then you chop those in halves or quarters depending on size and, stay with me here, it’s about to get wild, shove them INSIDE the tomato pieces!

This serves 2 purposes–1.) it will keep your garlic from burning in the oven and 2.) it infuses your tomatoes with yummy garlic goodness.

So after you’ve planted your little garlics into the tomatoes, you’re ready to oil and spice. I don’t measure spices, sorry. I liberally applied sea salt, black pepper and italian seasoning over everything, then drizzled it all with olive oil. You can definitely at this point use fresh oregano and basil and I’m sure it would make it even better, but since all I had on hand was the dried spice, I made do, and it still turned out great.

Time for the oven. You wanna roast this for about 30-40 minutes in that 400 degree oven. Keep an eye on your pan and make sure your tomatoes don’t get too done because they will shrivel, and make sure your onions don’t scorch. It’s just perfect when your onions are browned. Pull it out and let it cool for about 10 minutes until you’re able to comfortably touch it. This is where a food processor is so handy. It’s no secret I’m obsessed with my Ninja. I just dumped everything from the pan into it, added some more of the above spices to taste, plus about 1/8th cup of parmesan cheese and pulsed for a few seconds and Voila! You could probably also use a hand mixer.

When everything is a nice even consistency, just pour it into a pan and let it simmer on low, covered but not sealed, so that steam can escape but the spatter can’t. REMEMBER, ON LOW! VERY LOW! The last thing you want to do is scorch the bottom of your sauce and give a burned taste to all the hard work you’ve put in there. This also is the time to utilize that tomato water from earlier if your sauce is a little thick. Mine tends to turn out thin initially so I didn’t need the water, but you never can tell. I let mine simmer for about an hour under a watchful eye and stirring consistently until it had reduced to a nice thick sauce.

At this point I would let your sauce cool, then put it in an airtight container or mason jar and let it infuse in the fridge at least overnight. With fresh made things like sauces and salsas, the longer the flavors have to marry, the better it is going to taste.

So now let’s talk about the dough.

Your sauce has been chillin’ for a day or so, and now you REALLY want this flippin pizza. It’s time to start from the bread up. I make a very simple, healthy dough using greek yogurt and whole wheat flour. You can make this ahead of time as well and freeze it, or right before. But beware–the consistency of this dough is EVERYTHING. It is going to make or break your pizza. Too wet and it’s going to be too doughy, too dry and you can’t work with it. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 425. Get out your ingredients, it’s gonna get messy.

nonstick

whole wheat flour

plain greek yogurt

1Cup measuring cup

garlic powder

salt

pepper

italian seasoning

rosemary

Again, I use my ninja for everything, so I sprayed the inside of it liberally with nonstick, but if you’re going to do this by hand, spray the inside of a large bowl. Then you just add 1 Cup of plain greek yogurt, and 1 Cup of whole wheat flour, then add your spices to taste. (again, I don’t measure so….sorry.) At this point I just threw on my lid, and pulsed until I got the right consistency. If you’re kneading by hand, know this will take a lot of working. You may have to add more flour or more yogurt, depending on the day. Also, make sure you spray your hands with nonstick before you start physically touching the dough. Trust me, you’ll thank me for that tip. The perfect dough consistency is pliable and easy to spread without tearing or sticking to everything it touches.

Sprinkle your work space with more flour before getting your dough out to work it. Roll it in a bit more flour, then start folding the dough into itself until it forms a nice smooth ball, and spray the top with nonstick.

Now you want to put your dough ball in the middle of a pizza pan that has been coated with nonstick. I really like the aerated pans, but if all you have is a cookie sheet, that will work too. Start in the middle and just work your dough out with your fingers to the edges of the pan, until it’s all the same thickness and uniform in shape. This amount of dough will make a medium sized 12″ pizza.

Then it’s time to add that delicious sauce from yesterday. (By the way, that amount of tomatoes should have made 1 rather large jar of sauce, so you should have enough for like at least 3 medium sized pizzas.) The amount of sauce you add is all a matter of taste, but since I love marinara I like to put a lot.

Then a LITTLE bit of cheese, to give your toppings something to stick to.

Now it’s time for toppings. I made a deluxe of sorts, with things I had in the fridge already. But put whatever you want! I used pepperoni, bacon, banana peppers, onions and spinach.

finally top it off with lots of cheese and it’s ready for your 425 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. Your pizza is done when the edges are crispy and your cheese is starting to brown.

And that’s it. Time to enjoy!!

I know this seems like a ton of work for one pizza. why go through all that trouble when you could just order one from Pizza Hut and have it to your house in 45 minutes? Well, I try to be aware of where everything comes from that is going into my body and it really doesn’t get any healthier than this when it comes to pizza. You can’t beat the taste of homemade either. And if you spend one day making a large batch of sauce, enough for several jars, then you have it on hand and can throw it on pizza or pasta for a quick and easy dinner later. Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail, so making dishes ahead of time can really turn into a lifesaver when you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle. I hope this “healthy” cheat meal is as delicious for you as it was for me. Bon apetit!

Fast, Fresh Recipes Using Summer’s Bounty

July 16, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie5 Comments

Hey guys! Another beautiful summer evening here in East Tennessee! I’ve been a busy bee all evening, playing with new recipes and I would love to take a second to share them with you guys!

This all started because I had a windowsill FULL of overripe tomatoes from my garden. These have been the first to ripen, so they’re a little small, some had a few spots on them…..they just weren’t SUPER great slicing tomatoes. But what to do?! I’m certainly not going to waste them! And I had 3 jalepenos that had just come straight from the little garden out back. As I started digging around the house I realized I had a bag of diced bell peppers that I had stored back in March in the freezer. I also had garlic and spices. A quick trip to the store down the road for an onion and a lime could mean one thing……SALSA TIME!!!

Now, I am as guilty as the next person about buying canned salsa, and I’m here to tell you right now, YOU DON’T FRIGGIN NEED IT! It’s just as cheap, a million times healthier and 548168416525 times tastier to make your own! Especially if you have a garden, like moi. Even if you don’t, buying a couple of tomatoes, peppers and onions will cost you next to nothing and make a crap ton of delicious homemade salsa. Store it in freezer bags and you can enjoy it all year long!

Ok, so yeah, I don’t have an exact recipe really. The beauty of salsa is that you can make it exactly as you like it. Chunky or smooth. Spicy or sweet. Cilantro or no. (NO WAY for me. I HATE cilantro. yeachhhh!!!!) It’s your prerogative. For me, I used what was around the house. The amount of tomatoes I ended up having after removing the stems and bad spots came to around 2 1/2- 3 Cups. Because I had 2 different kinds of peppers, I only used about 1/2 cup of bell peppers and 2 whole jalepenos ( seeds and ribs included!) If you don’t like things too spicy, definitely only use 1 and remove the seeds (that’s where all the heat is.) Also I should mention that mine were small as they came from my garden, and the ones in stores tend to be larger. Try your best to buy organic or homegrown. The difference in quality is unquestioned. And I swear, knowing exactly what went into these beautiful veggies, digging the hole with my own two hands and being able to pick them a few months later to enjoy really takes taste to a whole other level. Anyway, back to the recipe.

So you’ve diced up your tomatoes and peppers. If you’re going to make a chunky salsa, make sure you dice your stuff up pretty uniform in size so one flavor doesn’t outweigh another. I used a food processor (God bless my Ninja) so I just chunked it up without thought. Next comes the onion. I used about a 1/4 of a large onion. Since the flavor is so strong I didn’t want it to over power, just compliment. Then the garlic. I used probably 2-3 good sized cloves. I frickin LOVE garlic. I could probably eat an entire bulb like an apple, so again, go with your own taste. Finally I added sea salt, ground black pepper, and since I didn’t have cumin on hand, I improvised with chili powder. Juice of 1 lime and I was ready to process! Remember, as tempting as it is going to be to eat your salsa immediately, it’s best if you let it marinade overnight. All the flavors mix together and it will taste completely different. So that’s that. If you like cilantro, throw that in. If you want something sweet and different, substitute mangoes or pineapple for the tomatoes. Add some corn and black beans if you want a heartier salsa.

I swear to God, I have made some pretty delicious things in my life, but this was by far one of the easiest and most delicious things to come out of my kitchen. So fresh–UGH!!

(**side note, I ate mine with some simple sea salted pita chips, but you can use whatever you like. I just didn’t want a strong salt flavor to take away from the beauty of the salsa.)

Fresh from the garden salsa ingredients, minus the bell peppers

The finished product, after a quick spin in the Ninja.

Another happy surprise I got tonight was finding a way to curb my craving for mashed potatoes! Here in the south we love LOVE our taters. Smashed, mashed, hashed, fried, baked or loaded…you name it, we’ll eat it. Unfortunately that is part of why the south has an obesity epidemic on it’s hands, but that’s a rant for another blog. So tonight I gave mashed cauliflower a whirl. SO glad I did! The consistency was perfect and after the right flavorings, you NEVER would have known it was simply steamed cauliflower. This is yet another recipe that can be tailored to your individual taste, or altered by what you have laying around the house. We’ll call mine “Garlic Ranch Parmesan Fauxtatoes!” I chopped up one head of cauliflower, removing the core and any remaining leaves, then tossed it in a large pot, covered it with water and turned it on the stovetop on high. I also threw in a few garlic cloves because, like I said earlier, I have a garlic fever and don’t wanna be cured. Also I’m a huge fan of garlic mashed potatoes, so I thought, what the hell. I threw a lid on the pot and let that sucker boil and steam on medium high for about 15 minutes, til it was really tender. Then I drained the water and threw all of it in my Ninja. (I told you I love that thing. Best $100 I’ve spent in my kitchen.) Sea salt, black pepper to taste, then I started adding light ranch greek yogurt dressing. This is where things get custom. I used Marzetti’s Simply Dressed & Light. I added probably 1/4 cup initially, pulsed and added more. All told, I used maybe 1/3 of the bottle??? I didn’t really pay attention. I just added until it was the right consistency and had the right amount of ranch flavor for me. OMG it was AMAZING! This is a recipe I intend to make several times a week. Did I happen to mention that 1 cup of cauliflower has 25 calories, compared to 1 cup of potatoes, which has 116?! That means I can have 3x as much….right?

Grilled chicken with a spinach and cucumber salad and MASHED FAUXTATOES!!! Try them! Don't be scared! — Grilled chicken with a spinach and cucumber salad and MASHED FAUXTATOES!!! Try them! Don’t be scared!

Guys I hope you try these recipes and it inspires you to create some of your own. The best meals are made of simple, fresh, wholesome ingredients. Remember that and you can’t go wrong! post me some of your favorite healthy recipes and I would love to re-post them to share with others!!

Until next time, stay happy and southern and enjoy the little things!!

3 month progress update

June 23, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie4 Comments

As of June 22, I have been on my healthy life track for 3 months. Honestly, I am shocked and very proud of myself for sticking with it like I have. With everything else in my life, when things got tough or I didn’t receive immediate gratification, I would just blow it off and slip back into my old habits. And while the changes aren’t as dramatic as I had imagined, I’m pretty proud of how far I’ve come. My expectations were set pretty high, and I guess I was imagining myself in a whole new rock hard bod at this point. But life is not a hydroxycut commercial. In real life, your before and after may be a little more subtle and take more time. The toughest battle for me has been the constant self-comparison to Mitch’s progress. We both started dieting March 22, he for his body building show in August and me because, well, if you can’t beat ’em join ’em. His progress is astounding. A weight loss of over 30lbs, hardly any body fat, cardio improvement. His body is a 10! And then here’s little ol’ me–womp, womp. But I’m not going to belittle my success. Mitch has always been an athlete who was able to modify his body quickly. He wrestled through high school and college and has been body building for years. He has “muscle memory,” so when it’s time for him to pump it up before a show, his body is like “Oh I remember this! Let’s bring those muscles back! We’ve missed them!” Whereas me on the other hand, I did nothing but drink competitively through college. My idea of working out was taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Muscle memory my ass. My body says, “Muscle??? What’s this muscle you speak of?? Where’s the vodka?! We miss vodka!” So it has been a struggle.

With all that being said, I am so proud of my progress to date. My arms have actual definition! I am improving in weight each week. The biggest thing is that I go to the gym 5 days a week without fail. I now feel bad if I DON’T go, and I don’t hate it! I am still holding all my weight in my midsection, (thanks mom, for that awesome gene.) but after seeing my photos side by side, I can really see a difference. And this is the first time I’ve ever posted full photos of myself in a swimsuit in a public setting, so please be kind. I am so excited to see how things are come September 22!

STATS:

March 22, 2014 June 22, 2014

Height: 6’0″ 6’0″

Weight: 161 lbs 148 lbs

Chest: 36″ 33.5″

Waist: 32.5″ 29.5″

Hips: 38.5″ 37.5″

Thighs: 22″ 21″

BMI: 21.8 20.1

Body Fat Percentage: 27.6% 22.7%

So there you have it. I am most impressed with my body fat percentage. When I first bought my caliper, I was shocked at how high my body fat was. Dropping that number by 5% has been a better indicator than the scale of what kind of shape I’m in. My goal is to lose 10 more lbs of fat and lower my body fat to 17%. I am going to stop taking so many cheats now that vacation is behind me and really go hard on my diet. My diet plans are pretty good right now. I’ve started eating carbs again, but they are strategically placed and only come from ancient grains and fruit. I aim to take in 150g of protein a day, but usually fall short of that goal. As long as I break 100g I’m happy.

DIET:

Meal 1: 6oz Egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1/2c of plain oats, coffee with almond milk and stevia

Meal 2: Protein shake (1 scoop vanilla whey, 1/2C berries, spinach, 2 tbsp PB2, 1/4 avocado, 1/2C liquid egg whites, 1/2C almond milk)

Meal 3: 1C fruit (melons or berries) and 4 oz lean protein

Meal 4: 1 serving of quinoa, 4 oz lean protein

Meal 5: 1-2C greens (spinach or broccoli), 4 oz lean protein

Snacks: 1 daily (piece of fruit, coconut milk ice cream, 2 tbsp peanut butter, Luna bar, dark chocolate…)

EXERCISE:

Monday: Legs + 200 ab exercise and 30 mins HIIT cardio

Tuesday: Back and rear delts + 200 ab exercise and 30 mins HIIT cardio

Wednesday: Chest and biceps + 200 ab exercise and 30 mins HIIT cardio

Thursday: Glutes + 200 ab exercise and 30 mins HIIT cardio

Friday: Shoulders and triceps + 200 ab exercise and 30 mins HIIT cardio

Saturday: 1 hour steady state cardio

Sunday: REST!!!

*Please remember that I am not a physician or anything close to one. I am not encouraging anyone to follow this because if you hurt yourself I would feel hella bad.*

Kickstarting the summer!

May 12, 2014 The Appalachian BarbieLeave a comment

Hey y’all! I hope you’re all winding down your weekend in the most comfortable of ways and preparing yourselves for a fresh new week ahead. I’m personally folded up Indian style under a blanket in my most comfy VS sweats on the couch with my 2 sweet fur babies snoozing in my lap and I could only be happier if my honey wasn’t working. Time is flying by so fast, we’re already almost 2 weeks into May and I’ve hardly had time to look around and savor the final fleeting moments of spring before the summer’s heat steals it’s innocence. One thing that was consuming a lot of my time was the “Mr.Tipton Street Pageant,” a charity event I organized at work for our local animal shelter. A former employee and myself came up with the idea of a “man pageant” for average Joes last year as a way to get people into the bar and to raise money for a good cause. It turned out to be a smashing success so I decided to make it an annual event, this year with a Kentucky Derby theme. I started work on this thing the first of February and am very proud to say my solo efforts were able to raise almost $550 in cash and tons of donated items for the Washington County Animal Shelter.

My managers at the pub with all the donated items — My managers at the pub with some of the donated items

Me gifting a shelter employee with a check for the money we raised

As stressful as it was putting on this whole to-do, I really learned a lot and actually used that Bachelor’s in PR and Advertising that I earned way back in college. And most importantly, it felt really good to be able to give back to an organization that is so close to my heart.

I also achieved another milestone in my fitness journey recently, finally breaking the 150lb curse and dipping to 149lb. Only 9 more pounds to go and I will have reached my goal weight! I am finally seeing progress and other people are starting to notice as well. I read somewhere once that it takes 4 weeks for YOU to notice a change, 8 weeks for the people around you to notice, and 12 for everyone else, and it is so true! I really got serious about my health for Lent, so it’s been exactly 2 months and my whole outlook has changed. Going to the gym used to be as dreaded as my yearly checkup with my gyno. Now, I almost look forward to it. Well, let’s not get carried away. I don’t look forward to it so much as I just don’t want to miss. And I love seeing the changes in my body! I’ve never had arm muscles, so it’s kinda cool to be able to flex like a douche. I’m going to stay with Christian at the beach in one month and I would love to be at my goal weight by then but I’m not gonna kill myself. All good things in all good time!

This was such a big deal.. — This was such a big deal…Please ignore my ratchet toenails.

Lunch is served! Delicious spinach and cucumber salad with cherry tomatoes and blackberries, drizzled with a citrus poppyseed vinaigrette.

Healthy dinner: 4oz ribeye on the grill with a big salad and my own yummy apple, pear, plum puree!

One of the best things about getting fit is how much better I look in clothes. I’ve really enjoyed getting cute new outfits and accessories for the gym, and even splurged on a few everyday things as well.

New Betsy Johnson backpack....perfect gym bag — New Betsy Johnson backpack….perfect gym bag

Does it get any easier than throwing on a simple breezy dress for a summer night out? The unique detail on this halter neckline really gives this dress some character!

It was a basic black tank and edgy accessories for date night with my babe this week

My biggest (and most needed) splurge--some wireless headphones. Who cares if they make me look like zoolander?! — My biggest (and most needed) splurge–some wireless headphones. Who cares if they make me look like zoolander?!

Finally today was Mother’s Day, and I couldn’t end this post without talking about what a wonderful day we had. Mitch and I were able to take the mom’s plus my dad out for brunch this morning at the Bonnie Kate Cafe. It was beautiful as usual. The food was delicious and the presentation was on point. When it comes to a great dining experience, it really is all about the tiny little details. Like the fresh mint leaf garnish in your water or tea. Small and inexpensive, but it makes basic tapwater seem so much more elegant. This cafe is such a hidden gem in my little hometown.

My beautiful mother and me on Mother's Day. — My beautiful mother and me on Mother’s Day.

Mitch and his mother outside the Bonnie Kate

So far this summer is off to an awesome and exciting start! I hope you all have as many exciting things to keep you busy this summer as I do–and if you don’t, then just kick back and enjoy it next to some water!

Is this what it’s like to have “haterz?”

May 6, 2014May 12, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie3 Comments

I’m just gonna throw this quick little update out there because not only are my feelers hurt, but im also honestly pissed off. And now I’m even more livid because I felt forced into using the term “hater.” But what else do you call someone who pisses on another’s parade?? Since I have gotten my life together and started losing weight and making improvements in my life, I have had a few people who have made my life their priority and decided to tell me that what I was doing was unhealthy or abnormal. Or “unreasonable.” I have one question–where were you people for 10 years when I spent 6 nights a week in a bar, in an unhealthy mutually abusive relationship, overweight, and smoking a pack of cigarettes a day?? Not one person except my mother ever questioned my behavior then when I was the most self-destructive human being I’ve ever known. Now I have people coming out of the woodwork questioning my actions, saying that it’s unreasonable for me to spend the time I do at the gym, or that I eat clean and that’s not normal. NOW people are “worried” about me.

I don’t need to justify my life but just for fun here ya go. It has taken me 2 months to lose 10 lbs. I consume 1200-1500 calories/day. I workout 6 days a week for 1.5-2 hours. 30 minutes of that is HIIT cardio and the other time is spent on weight training. I eat organically as much as I can afford and I go out on the town about once a month. If this is an unhealthy lifestyle then so be it. I feel better than I ever have. Look better than I ever have. Have money in the bank and someone great at home. If you don’t like it, I honestly don’t care. I’ve never been one to try to please anyone but myself and I don’t intend on changing that any time soon.

I'll take the girl on the left over the one on the right any day. — I’ll take the girl on the right over the one on the left any day.

Update on my fitness journey

March 28, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie1 Comment

I am pleased to announce that I have really stuck to my guns about cleaning up my diet and lifestyle FOR GOOD, even maintaining through vacation. The only cheat I had was lunch at the tea room and a piece of cheese cake at the steakhouse on the final night. It was definitely worth it. Since I’ve been back, I’ve not drank and I have stuck to a meal and workout plan religiously. For weeks, however, I’ve been plateaued at 153lbs. It. Has. Driven. Me. BONKERS! However, as of yesterday, I broke that plateau and woke up at 151.5lbs! This is such a big deal for me. I haven’t been this small since some time in high school. At 6’0″ tall, I don’t need to lose much more weight. However, I do carry ALL my weight in my tummy region, (thanks for those genetics, Mom.) and that is the scary kind of fat. So realistically I would like to drop about 10 more pounds, then, continuing with my fitness plan, tone up and add back on around 5lbs of muscle.

So what is my plan?

I will lay out my food and fitness daily grind here for you. I am not a doctor, so you probably shouldn’t follow this plan without consulting a professional. This is just what is working for me at the moment.

Meal 1: 2 whole farm fresh eggs scrambled with 1tbsp salsa and sprinkled with feta, 1-2 cups of fruit, 1/4 avocado, cup of Yogi Blueberry tea, 16oz h20. Supplements-biotin (for hair and nails), vitamin C (for combating pesky colds), green coffee extract (to aid in weight loss) and b12 (for energy!)

Pre-workout: Pack of sweet and spicy tuna (I really hate to eat prepackaged food and limit it as much as possible. However, this is pretty good, and quick and easy on the go.) 16oz of h2o

Post-workout: Protein shake. (8oz of Blue Diamond vanilla unsweetened almond milk shaken with Designer Whey 100 calorie chocolate protein.)

Meal 2: 4oz of lean protein, 2 cups green veggie (typically this would be chicken or turkey with spinach or broccoli)

Meal3: 4oz of lean protein, 2 cups green veggie (same as earlier, but I could use chicken, turkey, salmon or beef, with spinach, broccoli or green beans)

Pre-bedtime: 1/2-1 cup vanilla greek yogurt topped with 1 cup fresh berries and a drizzle of chocolate syrup. cup of smooth moves organic senna tea 3x/wk (this is kind of embarrassing but I drink this stuff because my whole life I have had problems with, ahem, being regular. Holding on to that extra stuff isn’t good, so I drink this stuff to help me out. Moving along.)

If I’m craving something sweet and could use the extra calories, I will sneak a tablepoon of peanut butter 1-2 times per day.

I try to stay at 1200 cals. Any more and I don’t lose weight, any less and I don’t lose weight.

My exercise plan so far is pretty beginner. I have taken a sample workout from a bikini competitor and altered it to fit my beginners needs and I am sore all over. Constantly. I unfortunately will never be a person who just enjoys working out. I hate it. My time could be far better spent doing other things. But honestly that was part of the plateau problem. I had lost as much weigh as I possibly could without exercising so I had to start. Le sigh.

Monday: Legs- 4 sets of 12 each: leg press, leg extensions, squats with a 25 lb body bar, and lunges holding 15lb dumbbells, 30 mins cardio (15 mins on treadmill at 6-6.5mph, 15 mins on spin bike)

Tuessday: I rest

Wednesday: Im crippled from Monday, but make myself go. Arms- 4 sets of 12 each: hammer curl, barbell curl, tricep dips, and behind the neck tricep press. 30 mins cardio.

Thursday: Im basically a paraplegic at this point, but alas, no rest for the wicked. Back and abs- 4 sets of 12 each: bent over barbell row, one-arm dumbbell row. Row machine as hard as possible for 2 minute sets, 4x. Crunches with legs elevated to 90 degrees, 4 sets of 20. Russian twist, 4 sets of 30. Hanging leg raise, 4 sets of 20. 30 mins cardio.

That brings me to today. I’m actually going to get my body fat measured at the gym today. And I’m thinking I’ll do shoulders and chest plus cardio. The thing with my body type and what I’m trying to achieve, is that I have to focus most of my energy on diet and cardio to get rid of this pesky belly fat. The rest of it is just to tone up and get rid of all that cellulite and give me a sleeker appearance all over. I have been taking progress photos but I need to censor out my lady parts so those will be added later.

Anyone else on a fitness journey and want to share? I’d like to know I’m not alone here. What is the old saying, “misery loves company?” haha!

One of the best feelings ever. Beating that damn plateau!

Spin is one of the few cardio things I enjoy.

Marching into spring

March 7, 2014 The Appalachian BarbieLeave a comment

Good morning! I’m sitting here drinking my morning tea with the sunshine streaming through my windows and listening to the birds chirp. Even though it’s still pretty chilly outside, just like the birds, I can feel spring moving in. And time is FLYING by. I can”t believe it’s already been 2 months since I started this little online journal. Pretty soon it’ll be 90 degrees outside and everyone will be bitching and whining for cooler weather on Facebook (why can’t people just be happy )

This week I got around to bringing a little spring into the house. I changed my Bath & Body Works Wallflowers from “Leaves” to “Coconut Leaves!” I mopped my floors, opened my windows and let in some fresh air. And I changed out my dining room roses for a beautiful arrangement of astro’s and tulips. Nothing says spring time like tulips, and in white, they are so chic.

Also, yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which means Lent is upon us. I’m not Catholic, but I’ll take any excuse to better my diet, so for the next 39 days, I’m cutting the carbs! This really isn’t a major change for me, I’m just enforcing my existing diet beliefs. I guess the best way to describe my diet would be Paleo, but I hate to associate myself with the Crossfit cult, no offense to any crossfitters, I just don’t do it, but more power to ya. I guess I’m a Naturalist. I feel that the best way to eat is the way my ancestors did–by eating things that can be consumed in their rawest form from nature. Lots of chicken and fish, with red meat maybe once a week and pork every other week, (I don’t have any kind of moral issues with red meat and pork, I’ve just found that when I’m eating really clean, my body has a hard time breaking those things down, and since I want to listen to my body, I probably should limit my intake of them.) I compliment my protein with plenty of fruits and veggies. Leafy greens, broccoli/cauliflower, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, asparagus, all the squashes, peppers and onions, garlic, avocado and cabbage are some of my favorite veggies. On the fruit side I love any kind of berries, kiwi, melons, pineapple, grapefruit, grapes, and tangerines. I try to stay away from carrots, corn, potatoes and bananas, as these contain a lot of sugar and honestly, I just hate the texture of bananas. For snacking, I try to stick to nuts, raw walnuts and almonds preferably, nut butters, hummus and occasionally 1/4 cup servings of cottage cheese or Greek yogurt. I’ve tried to quit dairy all the way around, but I’m a sucker for good cheese and can’t pass up my smattering of feta on my eggs in the mornings. Hey, YOLO. I have not drank milk in over a year now and am now apparently lactose intolerant. However, I absolutely LOVE almond milk. There is a reason why the Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla almond milk is always sold out at my grocery store. It’s delicious AND it only has 30 calories in an 8oz serving!

With all that being said about my diet BELIEFS, just like any believer, in my day-to-day life I falter. My diet REALITY is a lot more lax than just that nice little list up there. It’s hard to work in a pub where you’re frying delicious hand-cut french fries and not snag one or two. Off every order. And pretty soon those add up to an order within themselves. Or to tell the sweet old war vet who brings me cookies n’ cream ice cream that I can’t eat it because I’m dieting. Or cheesecake. For God’s sake. I’ll never be able to pass on cheesecake. As I’ve become more in tune with my body over the past few months, I’ve really learned a lot about myself. For example, as the day goes on I lose motivation. I’m a morning person. I wake up with all the ambition in the world. I don’t have food cravings and I get. stuff. done. However, the later in the day it gets, the worse my sweet tooth is, and the less likely I am to stick to goals and you can forget about the gym. Seriously, if I’m not at the gym before 1pm, it’s not gonna happen. And I normally don’t go in to work until 9pm! So imagine how hard it is to not hit the late night diner that serves homemade gourmet cheesecakes until 5am with all my co-workers after a long night of slinging drinks! But I am a firm believer in the 90/10 rule of eating well and exercising 90% of the time so the other 10% can be spent being a disgusting fat slob.

I really need to get it together though since Mitch and I are going on our spring vacation next week to the beach. I absolutely can’t wait. One of my best friends moved to Myrtle Beach right after we graduated high school and even after almost 10 years, is still nice enough to put me up when I get a little spare cash and can manage to get away from work for a few days. With that being said, I’ve spent a lot of time in the ol’ Dirty Myrtle, but since Mitch is going with me this time and he’s not a big drinker or partyer, I wanted to plan some really fun stuff that even I’ve never done before. For instance, one day we are driving down to Georgetown and touring Hopsewee Plantation. I’m obsessed with Southern history and am sure the tour of the house and the following afternoon tea will not disappoint. I’m also excited to get down to the Inlet and enjoy some fresh seafood. JUST NO HUSH PUFFIES!

I hope everyone is as excited as myself for the upcoming season. As much as I try to be thankful and enjoy every day, there’s just something so fresh and new and exciting about spring. With everything in nature stirring and coming to life, I can’t help but feel the same on the inside. Hopefully I’ll have some time to update from the beach. Until then, everyone carpe diem!

Transformation Tuesday

February 4, 2014February 4, 2014 The Appalachian BarbieLeave a comment

Hi y’all! It’s a beautiful East Tennessee Tuesday, and according to my Instagram feed, it’s also “Transformation Tuesday.” So keeping with that theme, I would like to reflect on a few personal transformations, starting with the weather this week!

I just have to say that I have got the WORST case of spring fever you ever saw! Thanks to this crazy, southern winter weather, in the past week we went from -1 temperatures and a snow storm last Tuesday, to a beautiful, sunny 70 degree day by Saturday. How in the world is a person supposed to keep up?!

The road in front of my house is under there somewhere.... — The road in front of my house is under there somewhere….

Beautiful 70 degree walk at the trail with my pups on Saturday

As much as this weather has changed, it has certainly got me ready for beautiful spring days, and got me in the mood to transform this house from winter to spring. Since fall I have kept the “leaves” scented Bath and Body Works wallflowers plugged in throughout the house, but I’m thinking as soon as they run out I’m going to have to switch over to something a little more fresh. I also reflected my mood with my flower choice this week. I threw out the beautiful blood red roses Mitch surprised me with last week and replaced them with big pink lilies. (Side note: I try to keep as many fresh flowers and live plants as possible in my house. The more life and beauty you surround yourself with the more beautiful your life will be. Also, live plants add multiple benefits to your living space which you can read more about here.)

The red roses my sweet man surprised me with after a particularly crummy day

Fresh pink lilies take center stage in my dining room this week

I also feel that right now is the best time to address the transformation I’ve noticed in my dogs over the past few weeks. I think they’re also being affected by the weather and are starting to act out from being stuck in the house so much! My little chihuahua babies don’t do especially well in really cold weather, so over the past few weeks with temperatures dropping down to single digits and snow covering the ground, they haven’t been as active as they would like and it’s driving them stir crazy! They have started acting out in ways I’ve not seen since they were puppies and they’re 9 now. This week alone, I have had to call the police and a locksmith because they locked themselves in my running car while I was putting wiper fluid under my hood. They got into a bag of deer jerky I left on the coffee table and ate the whole thing. Then drank their entire bowl of water and peed on the couch. Then I came home from work last night and they had gotten into a trash bag–something they haven’t done since they were babies! So every opportunity I’ve gotten at weather above 40, I’ve walked their butts off trying to unleash some of this pent up energy!

Finally, I cannot write a transformation post without addressing my own personal transformation. Over the past year I have changed my life drastically. I spent 5 years in a dead end relationship with a person who was not good or right for me, worked at a job that I dreaded walking into on a daily basis and was 30 lbs overweight. My self esteem was at rock bottom. I felt that this life was all there was and it would never get better. i was a severe pessimist. A lot of this had to do with my drinking habits. I was bored and surrounding myself with people who partied a lot so it just seemed normal to go out 6 nights a week. I got a DUI. I had no money. The person I was with had no concept of love and how to express it and I had some sick attachment only because I was fixated on fixing him. In March of 2011 I took the first steps by moving out on my own. I wish I could say that relationship ended completely then, but it did not. I started partying even more with my newfound freedom, and loosely seeing other people, but I continued to fall back on this person every time I was lonely or bored for the next 2 years. Strangely enough it always felt more lonely when I was with him than when I was on my own. After moving out, I lost the extra weight I had been carrying. I was depressed and just didn’t eat so it wasn’t a healthy weight loss, but at least it got rid of it. Finally, around March of 2013, I got some self esteem. I started working out and eating right. I had an awesome friend base. I quit the job I hated. I somehow had came to a point where I had weeded out all the exhausting relationships in my life but the one and it was now time to let that go too. Once I finally unchained myself from all that negativity and learned to love myself, it was like I had opened myself up to be loved in the kind of relationship I deserved. It was in May of 2013 that I became involved with Mitch. He is the great love I’ve always heard about but never thought was true. In all honestly, this man saved my life. He truly is my better half. I have major problems with self control and Mitch is the little angel on my shoulder that steers me in the right direction. I can’t give him all the credit however. If I hadn’t pulled myself from negativity and surrounded myself with light and positivity, I never would have been in a position to be loved. As cliche as it sounds, reading “the secret” really changed my life and I would recommend it to anyone who is feeling lost and hopeless. The things you put out really are the things you attract. You steer your own ship. As devastated as I would be if something happened and Mitch and I didn’t work out, I now know how to love myself enough to be a stable, happy individual with a purpose. The way you feel on the inside really is reflected on the outside and these photos prove that beyond a doubt. I hope this post will help someone who feels lost like I did. Don’t look for happiness in another person–like fireflies, find the light in yourself first, and that light will attract the person with the right light to match yours.

I hope everyone has a blessed day and I will see you guys soon with a Valentine’s post, as me and the honey are celebrating this weekend.

My friend Ashton and I, left, on NYE2012 and on the right, this past NYE2013. Same place, but man how things have changed!

On the left was Mitch and myself the first time we ever really hung out. Right was 6 months into our relationship at a wedding.

This was us at date night last Thursday.

On the left was me in 2009 at the peak of fatness, in a miserable relationship and feeling hopeless. Right was this summer before a Billy Idol concert, healthy, happy and at peace.

Looking at that person on the left is like looking at a stranger. I am proof that if you change your surroundings you better yourself. Surround yourself with happy people and things and you can't help but be happy yourself. — Looking at that person on the left is like looking at a stranger. I am proof that if you change your surroundings you better yourself. Surround yourself with happy people and things and you can’t help but be happy.

A sad, bloated shell of a person. This was my 24th birthday I think.

My 28th birthday this year with Mom and Dad. Happier than I ever thought possible.

	BluntPathway on WELLth
	BluntPathway on Simple Pleasures
	The Appalachian Barb… on It’s Time to Level …
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