Oh No. Cardio.

I don't know about anyone else out there, but I enjoy it when I'm in shape. (Side note: What does "in shape" even mean? For me it basically means I enjoy being able to walk up a flight of stairs while eating a handful of pretzels and not feeling winded)

I'm at home now, which is amazing. I love it here. Love love love love love it!

However, being at home can be a little too relaxing sometimes. I'm not at school where I'm walking around everywhere and I spend a lot of time eating big meals and watching episode after episode of White Collar with the fam. All good things. Except for now when I walk up the stairs eating my handful of pretzels it feels like I'm doing a cardio session.

The getting out of shape thing is kind of inevitable while being at home (at least for me). So I made this goal to try and actually try and get some kind of focused exercise for at least a half hour every day.

I've let Jillian Michaels kick my butt for the last few days and guess what? I'm not winded walking up the stairs anymore!

It's the little things in life.

Naked Obsession

I've always had an aversion to clothing.  In fact, when I was a wee lass I ran several blocks away from home stark naked just to go to a friend's house...but that's beside the point.

My current obsession is this naked gold:

The picture blocks the Cinnamon Cranberry bag on the right--that business is SO good.

I am obsessed with it. It is the most delicious granola out there.  I mean, I'm sure there are others that are okay, but this stuff. Mmm. You can eat it a ton of different ways. I've eaten it in straight milk like cereal, put it on salads, eaten it straight from the bag (don't worry, I used a spoon. I'm civilized like that) My personal fave though--yogurt parfaits. They are just about my favorite summer thing to eat. The different kinds of granola add a good flavor with different fruits and yogurt varieities. It makes such a simple snack seem that much more fancy. 

The crunchy, fruity, smooth, delicious goodness. Obsessed.

I used the V'nilla Almond kind on this and it was pure heaven. I could definitely eat multiple bowls. (and sometimes do #noshame) 

This granola is on the pricier side but as a good friend of mine always says: "Live like a pauper. Eat like a king."

Pasta la vista, baby

So I recently discovered my culinary prowess. I know. Me cooking, right?  I've always enjoyed baking--breads, cookies, desserts--that aint no thang! But cooking has always overwhelmed me. I've always felt like the time spent making a meal and the time spent enjoying the meal never quite balanced out. I spent hours creating a meal that took me ten minutes to eat and tasted just okay.

But I realized that if I ever have the hopes of landing a man (single 4 lyfee) I should probably be able to feed him something, right? Just kidding. Really I just like food and wanted to be able to feed myself things other than heated up cans of soup and Ramen noodles for the rest of my life.

So I made this goal for my short time home this summer: cook actual meals. So as any good goal-setter does, I created a Pinterest board. And searched all the interwebs and cooking magazines, shows, books, etc.

Through my searching I found many recipes that looked delicious and many I wanted to try.
The following recipe is a kind of mash up of several similar recipes I saw and it turned out pretty dang delicious, I'd say.

Chicken and Asparagus Pasta

3 c. whole grain bow tie pasta
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
1 stock green onion, sliced
1/2 c. baby spinach
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 oz low-fat cream cheese
1/2 c. plain greek yogurt
1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 c. chicken broth

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet and saute chicken for about 20 minutes.
2. Cook pasta as box directs and in the last five minutes add the asparagus to the water. Drain and set aside pasta. (You can use some of the drained pasta water to add in later if the pasta seems too dry)
3. Once chicken is cooked add basil, oregano, and minced garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
4. Add broth, cream cheese, greek yogurt and parmesan cheese to skillet.
5. Finally, add pasta and asparagus to the skillet and stir until you get the desired texture.

I should have taken a better picture of the pasta but unfortunately I only snapped this one of my plate.

This may seem like a small portion but don't worry--this was fo sho my second helping :)

Not to toot my own horn, but this was seriously so good and not even that hard to make! I personally have a hard time eating enough vegetables but throwing them into a yummy pasta like this is an easy way to get them! You could definitely add peas or broccoli or any other veggie and even if you don't like them they'd be masked by all the delicious seasonings.

Give the recipe a try. Or better yet, butter me up like a roll and maybe I'll make it for you :)

Hot and Fresh out of the Oven

I have been quoted saying: "I hope I love my future children as much as I love banana bread."

Because, hello! Banana bread is stinkin delicious!! There's nothing tastier than warm slice (or four) of banana bread and a glass of milk on a cold day. Or any kind of day for that matter.

You know what else I love? Blueberry muffins. Oh and also oatmeal. I just realllly love warm, carb loaded things.

But you know what I don't love? The calories in these things. And the impact they have on my blood sugar. I have zero self-control when it comes to some of these things and I hate feeling guilty for over eating these things when I make them.

So I took a leap of faith and tried combining all of the things I love and guess what? It worked!!  So here is the "recipe" for the made up magic.

Banana Blueberry Bites
2 medium old bananas
1 c. Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1 tbsp. Cinnamon
1/4 c. blueberries (or chocolate chips if you're feeling adventurous)

It's super easy. Just mix together all the ingredients and plop dollops on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

**Fun fact: My sister featured this recipe on her blog which you should totally check out because it's full of good stuff. She's a Registered Dietician, so she's smart and crap like that.**

The ingredients

The result

And bam! That's it. You have delicious bite size morsels of heaven.

And ya know what's even better? They only set you back 50 calories each! So you don't even have to feel guilty if you eat a bunch of them! And there's no oil or any nasty ingredients so they're overall pretty healthy!


P.S. I am sure I will love my future children at least as much as I love banana bread...I mean, I'm not completely heartless!

Happy Birthday America

Watched the fireworks with my niece and nephew. It's so fun seeing through their eyes.

Reasons I love the fourth of July: 

1. Fireworks

2. Food

3. Family

4. Fred 

                                                              ( ^it is very important to me that you watch this)

Made some pretty delicious patriotic desserts for my family. I think they're glad to have me home at times like these.

So....Here We Are

It's a cloudy Sunday afternoon. I come home from church, look in the fridge and gorge myself on all of it's delicious contents. I've just eaten more than anyone should ever eat at lunch time and decide I'd better do something productive. 

So I go take a nap. 

A short time has passed. I'm coming to. My eyelids are heavy as I begin taking conscious breaths and attempting to rouse from my slumber. It's at these times of partial consciousness that I come up with the best ideas. I roll over and wipe the drool off my face. "Gosh. My life's such a joke...I just want to sleep some more." I think.  I roll over again. "...I think I'll start a blog." 

And so that's what I did. How that thought process led me to a blog, I'll never know. But sometimes when you have thoughts like that you've just gotta dive in and go for it. Or 'yolo' as the kids these days might say.  

Have any of you ever started a blog? It's a pretty arduous task actually. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Just getting the name for the blog alone was enough to make me want to quit! But alas, I persevered. Can't quit on my first day after all! The following is my internal monologue after arriving on blogger.com 

"Letters from Laura...nope. Someone took that one. Living La Vida Laura? Darn. Nope. 

*laugh to myself* 

"I'm gonna keep that in mind though. That's kind of funny..Hmm....How about let's drop the 'g.' Livin. Livin La Vida Laura. That's cool right? Nobody keeps the g on the end of words anymore. That's totally newbie business....still no....what rhymes with Laura? Nothing. Gosh, parents! Couldn't you have given me a name that rhymed with anything?? Let's see...hmmm..Laura's Life. No that's dumb..."

Fifteen failed attempts later

"Seriously? Every one of these names I've come up with is taken?! Some of them aren't even good!  Oh, here's a good one: Laura never shuts up."

Computer gives me the green check mark of approval.

"You're kidding me....Well, I guess it's a sign. Let's do this thang."

And such is my entrance into the blogosphere.