Grilling Goddess

I am thrilled to announce that I conquered my fear of grilling!  AND…it wasn’t that bad!  Nay, it was awesome!  First of all, it was not nearly as difficult as I imagined.  Second, Rachael Ray’s recipe came out EXACTLY like the picture! 

Here’s her picture (It could be mine, you’d never know!)

Here is the link to her recipe.  I'm so proud of myself.  Hubby supervised the entire experience, but he was completely hands-off, I did all of the work.  I can happily say that I still have all of my eyebrow hairs.  Hooray!  

This morning, I practiced yoga.  It was my first time since I've moved in with Hubby and it was challenging!  It was a great workout though and my intention for practicing today was to "be calm."  The instructor encouraged to take our intention for practice and to carry that intention to the rest of our day.  

I was calm throughout the grilling experience and I think it really helped.  Hubby was super impressed!  RR you would be so proud of me!  Ladies, get out there and give the grill a try!  It will set you free!  It doesn't heat up the house, it is easy, and you will feel empowered.  

Halfway through the experience I caught myself singing the "Hillshire Farm" commercial -- GO MEAT!

This morning, my girl RR was on Good Morning America!  She was excellent (of course) and showed off some of her fabulous slider recipes -- including her homemade BBQ sauce recipe!  She talked about how sliders are a cheerful way to entertain and that sliders are "friendly food."  I couldn't agree more!  I can't wait -- next time we have friends over, I'm giving sliders a try!  RR graciously mentioned on the show that we could call her recipe our own, I think I might! :)  Thanks, Rach!

RR has an APP for iPhone -- Tasty Bytes.  I downloaded it immediately and love it.  Over 200 recipes, it makes a grocery list for you, lets you search...I could go on and on and on! Download it now!  It was only $1.99 (so cheap and SO worth it!)

Feeling good about grilling and cooking....maybe this challenge isn't so challenging, but it's been really fun!  All of this happiness in the kitchen (well, deck) made me wonder... What is your favorite cooking memory?

Rain Rain Go Away, Now I Can't Grill Today!

So the good news is that the recipe from yesterday re-heats really well.  Tastes ten times yummier than last night’s premiere.  I’m so excited about it!  The bad news is…it’s pouring here and my big plans to tackle grilling tonight are now put on the back burner (love those corny cooking puns!).  So instead of trying a new recipe, Hubby and I are going to have a repeat of last night’s pasta, with a side of vino. J  Good thing the challenge is five nights a week.  Hubby and I don’t believe in wasting food anyway, so I’m really glad this recipe is great the second time around!  And there is so much leftover. Thanks to my BFF, RR!  (We’re not actually friends yet, we should probably meet once to make that happen, but maybe some day!)

Since I don’t have a fabulous cooking adventure to share with you this evening, I will send you some other thoughts.   First, I read an article about a month ago by RR (contributed to Women’s Health, seriously does that girl ever sleep – and I think I have no time!).  In it, she talked about how she turned to exercise when she had her mouth wired shut and couldn’t talk.  In that experience, she turned from an exercise dreading normal person (much like myself), to an exercise junkie!  I read it and at the time thought my RR was a little nuts.  Loving exercise, I don’t think so!  Hubby and I are training for our first half-marathon and it’s tough.  We notice each step we run and it’s brutal.  We are not those skinny-mini people you see running down the street at 100 mph.  These people, I’m convinced, ran their way out of the womb and have been running ever since.  I am not one of those lucky, naturally thin people. 

But today, just before the rain started, Hubby and I ran for a new record of 8 MILES!  Woohoo!!  We jogged for a solid 10 minute pace and finished in an hour and twenty minutes.  Somewhere around the 55 minute mark, I realized I was smiling!  And not just at the really cute kids in the park, but in the in-between strides too!  I think I may have finally fell in love with jogging and being fit. 

Also, bonus, it may have been my imagination, but I’m pretty sure that not as many things were jiggling around while running.  Dare I say it, I think my tummy may be shrinking!  Hubby has a barrel (my loving nickname for his beer gut – culprit, his Beer Meister in the basement) and I have a mini-girl version barrel (I blame the thesis stress eating, but Lord knows I’ve taken a trip downstairs once or twice myself to see Hubby’s friend).  Now don’t get me wrong, it was a painful 8 miles, but we did it!  I felt great afterwards and enjoyed feeling proud of myself all day.

Double bonus, I was just logging my meals, snacks, and exercise into my iPhone Lose It App, and saw that the long jog burned 739 calories! I’m so excited!  Still not losing any weight, but maybe things are turning to muscle!  Who knows, I’m just excited to feel better. Maybe I am a fitness junkie like RR! 

If I’m being completely honest, I’m sort of relieved that I didn’t have to take on the grill today, I’m a little afraid of it.  I’ve never grilled anything before in my life.  Not to send women back a few decades, but it seems like a guy’s job in life to do the grilling.  I have visions of burning off my eyebrows in a millisecond.  They are super-pale already, I can’t afford to sear them off for good!

Ladies, are any of you out there into grilling?  Any tips for tomorrow?  Also, does it infuriate you that all the meat/grilling commercials are clearly targeting men?  Cross your fingers that tomorrow I become a grilling goddess and maybe we can start a revolution!