Super Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Treats!

Hey yall!

I love getting festive for holidays or events and today is no exception. We are making REALLY EASY (emphasis on the easy) Valentine’s Day Treats!

Avocado Toast with Sriracha and a Heart egg
Ingredients:
-Slice of your favorite bread (I used a garlic cheese one)
-One small avocado
-One large egg
-Heart cutter
-Butter
–Roland Sriracha (aka THE BEST sriracha in my opinion)
-Power Greens

Directions:
-Heat the butter up in a skillet over medium heat; place the heart cutter inside the pan. Then, crack the egg into the heart and let cook for a couple of minutes.
-Pour 1/4c of water into the pan, wait for it to steam, then cover the egg with a lid and let it continue to cook for about 4 minutes.
-For the avocado toast, toast your bread. (haha, duh) Then, cube up the avocado (add garlic salt & pepper) and mash it up. Spread over the toast. Place toast on top of greens.
-Decorate your plate with sriracha and enjoy!

Strawberry Banana Breakfast Smoothie
Ingredients:
-Pack of strawberries
-3 bananas
-Splash of vanilla extract
-Milk
-Honey

Directions:
-Put your fruit in the freezer for a few hours or overnight. If you choose overnight, then remember to leave the fruit out for a short amount of time before making the smoothie.
-Put all ingredients into the blender and blend.
-Periodically stir the mixture and add more honey to taste. This one is super easy!

Cheese Heart Tray:
Ingredients:
-Sliced Colby Jack
-Sliced Cheddar
-Mini hear cutter
-Sliced Genoa salami
-Red grapes
-Small crackers or slices of bread

Directions:
-Stack the cheese slices, then cut out desired heart shaped cheese
-Arrange on the plate and add the salami, grapes, and bread

Chocolate Glazed Brownie Hearts and Strawberry Cake
Ingredients:
-1 box of Betty Crocker Original Supreme Brownie mix
-1 box of Pillsbury strawberry cake mix
(water, egg, and vegetable oil are needed for the mixes)
-1 tub of Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy chocolate frosting
-Festive Sprinkles
-Pink Icing with something to pipe it
-Cute cupcake wrappers
-Heart pan
-Heart Cutter

Directions:
-Bake the mixes according to their packages.
-Let brownies cool, then use the heart cutter to shape them.
-Decorate each one how you want!

Recipe inspiration here
Dipped Pretzels
Ingredients:
-Pretzels rods and butter pretzels
-Candy melts or some sort of melting chocolate (I used the vanilla flavor)
-Festive Sprinkles
-Baking tray lined with parchment paper

Directions:
-Melt the dipping chocolate in the microwave for two 30 second increments.
-Dip the pretzels into the melted mixture (a spoon helps) and lay them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. When you have dipped a few, decorate them. Then, repeat the process.
-Cool them in the fridge for about 10 minutes before plating.

Recipe inspiration here

 

Strawberry Milkshake
Ingredients:-Fresh strawberries
-Milk
-Vanilla ice cream (I used Ben&Jerrys, but any one you prefer is fine)
-Vanilla Extract

Directions:
-Put everything into a blender and mix it! I eyeballed all the ingredients. You can add as much or as little of each as you want!

Recipe inspiration here

 

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful. I love doing things like this! I think it is SO FUN to get into the spirit of holidays and make festive foods. These were exceptionally easy to make and perfect for a girls night in or a date night in! OR they would be perfect for a family snack session! Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day.

-Kimi

PS, check out the video I made showing you me making the food!
Super Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Treats!

I usually stick to makeup on my channel, but I love food too much and cannot help but post food videos! This was my first food video, so I know it isn’t professional or anything, but I had fun making it!

 

Project Get Healthy: Weekly Meals

Hey yall!

Today, I wanted to share some of my meals that I ate during the week. This post includes last week as well as this past week. (I know the week isn’t over, but I usually ease up on the weekends and indulge.)

Upper Left (lunch): Turkey breast, two corn tortillas, an apple, baby bell peppers with hummus, and a slice of havarti cheese.

Upper Right (dinner): Baked salmon, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts, roasted cherry tomato quinoa and brown rice mix, and arugala.

Bottom Left (dinner): The same as above, minus the roasted veggies.

Bottom Right (breakfast): Apple and gouda chicken sausage (bought it at central market, pre packaged), scrambled eggs with a drizzle of ketchup (#fancy haha), and cottage cheese on top of a bed of arugala.

Baked Salmon:
-Sprinkle salmon with seasoning and drizzle with EVOO. (I use garlic salt and pepper)
-Bake for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven
For the week, I usually buy two pounds of Atlantic salmon and have them cut it into four servings. (I was cooking for two, so we had meals for two days. This could definitely work for one and be meals for four days!)

Baked Sweet Potatoes & Brussel Sprouts:
-Sprinkle veggies with whatever seasoning you like. (I use garlic salt, pepper, paprika, sometimes cumin…really any spice would be good!) Drizzle with EVOO
-Bake for 45min-1 hour in a 350 degree oven.
I like my veggies caramelized and crispy, so I might even bake it longer than that. I know I didn’t put measurements for the seasoning, but that is because I really don’t measure spices. I have noticed that I need to heavily season the veggies though. If it makes you more comfortable to measure, then do that! Start off with a smaller amount and work your way up. If you find that the food is under seasoned, then next time, adjust. Don’t feel nervous or stressed! Just practice and you will get better! For this, I added onions to my brussel sprouts and enjoyed it! I love that cooking is like a blank canvas.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Quinoa & Brown Rice Mix:
-Put cherry tomatoes onto a non-stick baking sheet. (I used two containers) Season with salt or garlic salt, pepper, fresh garlic and italian seasoning.
-Bake for 30ish minutes in a 350 degree oven. (I say 30ish because you might need more time for the cherry tomatoes to burst and caramelize. You just have to monitor! Basically, you want the tomatoes to burst and look wrinkled– that’s how I describe it, haha– and a little caramelized*. That’s when they have such great flavor!)

*when I say caramelized, I mean a nice brown color. Food’s natural sugars are cooking and almost burning– not in a bad way– and that is what gives delicious flavor! Basically when I say caramelized, you want the food to look slightly burnt.

ProTip: Baking things in the oven is super easy! You season it, then pop it in the oven and work on something else. (or just lay around watching netflix)

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Upper Left (lunch): Baked eggs, roasted cherry tomatoes, cottage cheese on top of a bed of arugala.

Upper Right (breakfast): Sauteed portabello mushroom caps, fried eggs, cottage cheese and arugala topped with salsa.

Bottom Left (breakfast): Breakfast tacos with a fried egg, arugala, and smoked gouda on each. Salsa filled avocado on the side.

Bottom Right (Dinner): Poisson Cru courtesy of Roo! This was delicious!

Baked Eggs:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put a small amount of EVOO into the muffin tins. Crack eggs into the tin.
-Bake for about 20 minutes. (you can check, then add more time if need be. If you want your eggs less done, then check it after 15 minutes!)
Tip: Depending on how done you want your eggs, check after 10 minutes then gauge how much more time you need.

Sauteed Mushrooms:
-Chop mushrooms into hearty chunks
-Have your skillet or pan on medium heat and add the mushrooms
-Season with salt, pepper, italian seasoning (again, any seasoning you want!)
-Saute the mushrooms until tender
(notice how I didn’t add any oil to these. This is because mushrooms release a lot of water when seasoned with salt and cooked.)

Roo’s Poisson Cru (explained to her by the cabana boy in French Polynesia while on her honeymoon):
-You will need sushi grade ahi tuna, fresh limes, cucumber, tomatoes, fresh coconut milk, rice and rice seasoning
-Dice tuna into ~1 in. chunks
-Squeeze fresh limes on top and let it marinate
-Chop cucumber and deseed tomato then chop
-Find a coconut and shave it
-Add the cucumber and diced tomato to the tuna and lime mixture.
-Wring fresh coconut milk on top (about 1/4c)
-Season with black pepper and sea salt to taste and garnish with green onion
-For the rice, add some chopped onions and cucumber marinating in rice vinegar
-sprinkle secret rice seasoning that is found at Asian grocery stores onto rice then top it with Poisson Cru.
(special thanks to Roo for providing this recipe!)

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So those were some of my meals these past two weeks! I had the summer off work, so I had a lot of time to dedicate to preparing and cooking my food. When school starts back up, I know that it will be a challenge to continue eating and cooking healthy meals. My plan for sticking to my Project Get Healthy goal during the school year is to meal prep on the weekends. I will definitely be updating yall with that as well!

PS, I am a firm believer in working out giving you endorphins, therefore making you happier. I just wanted to say that along with eating healthier, I am working out consistently. As I mentioned before, I do Camp Gladiator and I really love it! As someone who played team sports growing up, these workouts make me feel part of a team again. It is highly challenging, but it helps me push myself like I used to! I feel happier and more confident after these workouts. I feel so accomplished when I finish a workout!

I really hope something in this post motivated or helped you in some way. Remember, you can take control of your life. You’re strong enough to do whatever you put your mind to. Don’t give up on yourself!

Thank you so much for stopping by,
-Kimi

Project Get Healthy

Hey yall!

It’s obvious that I love food.

Anyway, when I was growing up, I played club soccer. This just means that we played all year around instead of only one season. Here’s the point: since I played competitive soccer from 5th grade up until freshman year of college, I never really worried about what I ate. (there was a short period of time that I was trying to be super healthy, but overall, I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, and how much I wanted- whether it was healthy or unhealthy. I will say that I tried to be somewhat health conscious)

Fast forward to sophomore year in college. I quit college soccer after my freshman year, but stayed at the school for the first half of my sophomore year. That was pretty much the first time that I had to workout by myself and motivate myself. (minus the summer before freshman year- I worked out with my friend but we both had workout packets to do to train during the summer) I still worked out and enjoyed it. I transferred to A&M mid semester and again I stuck with working out. (ps, I really do enjoy working out) I basically stuck with working out all throughout college and the year after I graduated.

Ps, this whole time I am still continuing to eat what I want, when I want, how much I want. (and again, I was always SOMEWHAT health conscious)

Now (in this story) we are about a year after graduation so… 2014. I got a job as a teacher and I started August 2014. Long story short, I ended up not working out for months and becoming really lazy.

Ok, so, I stopped working out and at this point I was eating pretty bad. My poor eating habits started long ago, but I was working out more and at least TRYING to be healthy at times. Something happened along the road and I just kind of went crazy with food. That sounds dramatic, but what I mean is that I threw health out the window and ate whatever I felt like eating. I wanted pizza? I ate pizza. CHEESEBURGERS?? Yum yum give me some! And let’s not even mention Sonic chili cheese tots with extra onion. Overall, I was eating more unhealthy and “indulgent”.

November 2014 rolled around and I ended up getting back into working out. At this point, all I was doing was lifting. I hadn’t even thought of cardio in months. (ps, this may seem super dramatic to some people, but I grew up playing soccer all the time, so I was used to working out regularly). The thing that my brain thinks is, “hey kimmy, you worked out.  You should reward yourself with a feast!!!” I would be lying if I said that my mind has changed and I am so healthy now and blah blah blah.

Sidenote- I am one of those people who never checked grades in college, am scared to answer the phone because I’m paranoid about bad news, don’t check test results, etc. That being said, I never would weigh myself. I always said that I just want to feel good in clothes. Anyway– this story is getting too long– my point is: I have gained a lot of weight. I weighed myself after I got back from the beach almost two weeks ago.

That was when I decided that I had to do something about myself, my body, my mind, my confidence, so on and so forth. I decided to start counting calories (I use MyFitnessPal) which I had never done before. I don’t want to get too far into this, but I want to say that it is a challenge (considering how much food I can and want to consume at all times of the day) but I am enjoying it.

 

Today, I want to share some of the meals from my week!

Upper Left: Lunch, three mini slices of pumpernickel bread, one slice of muenster cheese divided equally, turkey breast. Avocado with salsa on the side, along with a variety of olives and yep, roasted garlic cloves. (thank you central market!)
Upper Right: #leftovers Baked salmon, baked sweet potatoes, baked brussel sprouts on top of a bed of arugula. The food was seasoned with garlic salt, pepper, and a few other dried herbs and spices that I had on hand. 
Bottom Left: Same as upper right, minus the arugula.
Bottom Right: Sauteed veggies mixed with scrambled eggs topped with goat cheese and salsa, all on top of a bed of ‘power’ greens.

I’m not here to list off things that you NEED to do in order to be healthy– that’s not what this is about and I’m definitely not a health expert. (hello, I love pizza and cheeseburgers) To me, I am posting this to a) hold myself accountable and b) help inspire someone who needs it. I do have a few no brainer tips just in case you wanted some:

1. Buy healthy food when grocery shopping. (On the flip side, don’t buy unhealthy food if you know you will cave and eat it. *cough cough* oreos *cough cough*) I love me some unhealthy food, but since I am really trying to be better, I avoid getting tempting food.
2. Cook, prepare most of the food you eat. It makes sense because YOU’RE in control of what you eat! You can determine how much oil and seasoning go into your food. You like an abnormal amount of garlic in your dishes (who doesn’t?), go for it! When you go out to eat, you don’t know how many calories or fat is in your food. You can add it to your tracker, but it isn’t always the correct amount. Ironically, eating at fast food and Chipotle (YESSSSSS) is easier since a lot of places now have their nutrition facts available to the public. For me, I know I need to stick to calorie counting for a while so that I can change my PORTIONS KRISTEN habits. Then when I have lost weight and eating healthy comes easier, I can ween off counting.
3. Be realistic; eat in moderation. I know that I freaking love cheese. I still buy and eat cheese, but I eat in moderation. I know that I can’t deprive myself of everything that I love to eat, so again, moderation and buckling down when you need to. (further explained next)
4. Don’t be too hard on yourself. I like to think of myself as a person who is committed and hard working. (in most aspects) That being said, I don’t want to beat myself up if I go over my calories for the day (which I have done). Don’t hate yourself if you eat a double cheeseburger and fries. This ties in with being realistic. For me, I know I committed to eating healthier so I will do that and get back on track when I fall off the wagon so to speak. (ps, what is that saying? haha)

If I think of anymore tips, I’ll let yall know!

Basically, I am really trying to eat healthier. Again, it’s hard work, but I know it will be worth it. Another thing I have been doing is working out more! I started doing Camp Gladiator again! I did it for a few months in early 2014, but I got back into it. For those wondering, it is a boot camp type workout. The trainers are AMAZING and the workouts have a team vibe. Overall, I really love it.

 

I hope you enjoyed this post and I really hope that it helped you in some way! Thanks for stopping by!
-Kimi

 

DIY Christmas Food Gifts!

Hey yall!

Here are some DIY food gift ideas that require very little effort, but are still thoughtful and nice to give to people around the holidays. First up, chocolate bark.

Chocolate Bark

Ingredients:
6 oz candy melts chocolate flavored
6 oz dark chocolate
1 tbsp shortening
2 cups of your favorite candy
pretzels (chopped)
salted, roasted peanuts

Directions:
-Melt the chocolate and shortening in a microwave safe bowl. (30 seconds then stir, repeat until melted)
-Pour chocolate onto a baking sheet that has been covered with greased aluminum foil
-Sprinkle toppings (you can do this however you please– get creative!)
-Chill in refrigerator for hours before serving

 

Before gifting, separate layers with parchment paper and store in an airtight and festive container!

 

 

Cinnamon Sugar Almonds

Ingredients:
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups whole almonds

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 250 degrees F
-Beat egg white in a bowl until frothy. (we do not want stiff peaks, we want it to be foamy)
-Mix in sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla extract and stir
-Add almonds fully coat with mixture (I use my fingers for this, it is way easier then trying to use a utensil)
-Pour almonds onto a baking tray that has been lined with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally

When you’re done, put them into a clear container and tie some pretty ribbon around the lid, then label it!

 

Adult Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:
Hot chocolate mix (2 boxes)
Marshmallows
Mini Bailey’s
Mason jar cups (I could not find these, so I used plain jars)

Directions:
-Pour hot chocolate mix into the jars, about a third of the way up
-Fill the rest of the jar with marshmallows (I should have added red and green chocolate chips on the very top, but I did not have any)
-Tie a mini Bailey’s on the side of the jar

These are super easy to make and look really cute! I should have filled the jars up with more hot chocolate, but I ran out because I only got 1 box. You can definitely omit the bailey’s if you want and you can add different toppings for the hot chocolate on top of the marshmallows! This is a really versatile gift and can be catered to anybody’s preferences.

 

I hope yall had a wonderful holiday and I hope these ideas inspired you to get creative and make food gifts for your loved ones! (these would also be great for a party as well!)

Thanks for stopping by,
Kimmy

Utilizing Leftovers: A Faux English Breakfast

Hey yall!

I am going to start a new series on my blog called “Utilizing Leftovers”.

I know the topic of leftovers may sound boring to some people, but I actually LOVE them! The flavors sink into the food overnight, I can go to the fridge and “just have one bite” of it for my midnight snack/any time I get hungry, and most importantly: cold pizza. (that will be a whole other blog post, though).

Anyway, today I whipped this up for breakfast (and immediately got inspired after I took this picture):

Breakfast is my favorite meal.

As you can tell from the picture, it isn’t a real English breakfast. (That’s why i used ‘faux’ in the title. To be honest, I don’t think I used it correctly, but it sounded good so I went with it). I had two fried eggs, a leftover burger patty, ham, toast, beans and an avocado. Last night, we had ham and beans for dinner. A few nights before, we had burgers. If yall don’t know already, I HATE wasting food! I figured that I would make (more like assemble, haha) a good breakfast since I had time.

I really think that leftovers are a beautiful thing. They’re also useful as well! (duh). You can use them so many ways and transform your leftover grilled chicken breast into different meals! Wow, I just sounded like an infomercial.

I am starting this series because
a) I love leftovers
b) I hate wasting food
c) It will challenge me to come up with good food combos (this one was an easy no brainer)
d) I want to encourage people to embrace leftovers and have fun thinking of new things!

I hope this will inspire yall to get excited about leftovers! Thanks for stopping by!
-Kimi

Woodshed Smokehouse

Hey yall!

Sorry I’ve been gone for so long. Today I come to you talking about an amazing new restaurant discovery in Fort Worth. As you can tell by the title, it’s called WOODSHED SMOKEHOUSE.  http://www.woodshedsmokehouse.com/

A little description from the website:
“The Woodshed Smokehouse is Chef Tim Love‘s homage to all things grilled, roasted, and slow-cooked, featuring a daily rotating selection of beef, lamb, pork, cabrito, wild game, fish, and vegetables, all cooked over a variety of woods and fire sources. The round orange animal icon at the top of this page – that’s our animal of the day, and you can click it to view a live webcam of it on the spit!

Enjoy Chef Love’s signature food in our dining room, in the bar, or on our patio that sits right on the banks of the Trinity River. Dogs are welcome in our gravel area, and we even have a special menu just for man’s (and woman’s) best friend!”

I wish I would have taken more pictures of the seating/restaurant. I will when I go next!

 

The place is along the Trinity River Trail and it is a PERFECT place to eat at when the weather is nice. It has a picnic-y, rustic vibe, yet you get a classy feel as well. (If that makes sense) You get a beautiful view when you’re eating and an even more beautiful sniff when you run past it. (runners, bikers, walkers etc frequently use the Trinity Trail– It’s a GREAT place to run!) I remember walking in and being in awe of the place. It really is a beautifully decorated restaurant.

I want to show yall how pretty and outdoorsy it is, but unfortunately I didn’t take pictures of the seating. Here is a picture taken from their website so you could get a better feel:

http://www.woodshedsmokehouse.com/#

 

Now moving onto the food… I have never been to a place like this. Maybe that is why I’m raving about it so much, but here is the menu:

Not only does the menu look cool and modern, it’s also very unique and different to anywhere I have been. It has a legend type thing on the side showing what type of wood the food was smoked with. Here is a little sidenote: I LOVE SMOKED MEAT. (really smoked anything.) Who doesn’t right? I really REALLY love the flavor you get from smoking food. The smell is also divine. Anytime I smell smoked meat while I’m out, I kind of go crazy.

Anyway, the menu is awesome. I felt like a child because I was SO excited about the menu/concept of the whole place. Another sidenote: I AM ALWAYS DOWN FOR A BURGER. Yeah, it really isn’t a surprise. I love food and burgers are delicious so obviously I love burgers.
I got the Woodshed Burger: Chopped beef, the sausage special of the day, smoked cheddar on top of a beef patty with garnish. WOW. How could I NOT pass up all that smoked meat. I also ordered a side of potato salad.

 

LOOK AT THAT PLATING!!!!! Ok I am a huge sucker and if something is pretty or plated uniquely. When this came out, I WAS SPEECHLESS AND IN LOVE. Also, if yall don’t know, Texans usually have some serious Texas Pride. (Yep, I capitalized that and made it a proper noun). So, when my burger came out topped with a little Texas flag, I lost it. It is such a simple (and probably inexpensive) decoration that REALLY makes a difference. Also, it made it too beautiful and unique to not take a picture of! This plating is just– WOW.

Ok the food. Yall saw that cross section shot of the burger. It really speaks for itself, but the food was really good. You really could taste all of the burger’s layers. The smokiness hits you, while the fresh vegetables give it a nice crunch. The cheese of course adds an extra fatty element as well. And I’m speaking for myself (and hopefully others?) when I say that I LOVE adding a crunchy bite into my mouth when I’m eating. (Ex: chips on sandwiches). This was no exception, so I would take a bite of burger and then toss a chip into my mouth. It was glorious.
The potato salad was good. It had crispy garlic on the top, which was ok. I liked the crunch it added, but I wish it wasn’t so bitter. Overall, I did like the potato salad, but to me, it wasn’t anything super special.

 

 

I haven’t said this yet, but it seriously is a BRILLIANT place. Not only is the food good, but the physical attractiveness of the restaurant is good and also the uniqueness makes it such a hit. Seriously.. GENIUS on Chef Tim Love’s part. It really is. It’s modern, yet homey at the same time. There is something for everyone (how cliche, haha) and the food is great. I highly recommend this place if yall are in the DFW area! Spring is (hopefully) coming up, so if you get a chance, check it out!

 

Thanks for stopping by! Do yall share an obsession with smoked meat like me??
-Kimi

 

Valentine’s Day Treat: Strawberry Cake

Hey yall!

I just wanted to share what I made for Valentine’s Day. I have never really been into V-Day, but this year was different because I kept seeing adorable baking ideas and pretty heart shaped foods on Pinterest/YouTube! I brainstormed and decided to make a strawberry cake because a) it’s delicious — definitely one of my top three favorite flavors (lemon vanilla would probably be number one) and b) because it’s pink!

I was looking up recipes on Pinterest and ended up coming across Paula Deen’s “Smply Delicious Strawberry Cake” recipe. I know there is controversy surrounding Paula, but I used to watch her all the time on the Foodnetwork and loved her show. (Probably because the food was fatty and delicious looking, haha)

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients Needed

Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake – Paula Deen

• 1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
• 1 (3-ounce) box strawberry flavored instant gelatin
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
• Garnish: sliced fresh strawberries (I decided to decorate it with icing hearts, but now that I think about it, a strawberry heart would have been perfect!)

 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour 2 round 9-inch cake pans.
  ***I used small heart shaped pans and cupcake tins***
• In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (I always put the timer on a less time and check them, just so they don’t burn)
  ****I did not have a mixer, so I whisked everything***
• Decorate as desired

Cake Steps

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
• 1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract (I used vanilla)
• 7 cups confectioner’s sugar

CONFESSION: I refused to use that much powdered sugar, so I used about 4 cups and more puree because I wanted a strong strawberry flavor. I am not a huge icing fan, so I wasn’t planning on using a lot. I will say this, this made SO MUCH FROSTING. I would recommend cutting the recipe in half (maybe use 2 or 3 cups of powdered sugar) if you’re making cupcakes.

Directions:

• In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. (I used a fork and spoon because I didn’t have a mixer) Beat in 1/4 cup strawberry puree, reserving remaining for another use. (Again, I used a bit more puree and less sugar)
• Beat in extract.
• Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.
• You can add red food coloring to make it pinker.

Icing Steps

Here is the final product. The cake was absolutely delicious and very moist! You really could taste the strawberry flavor in both the cake and icing. (Again, I am not a huge fan of icing, so I didn’t put very much on.)

Finished Product! (minus the left)

What are your favorite cake flavors? Leave a comment to let me know!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you had a great Valentine’s Day loving yourself and loving the important people in your life.
-Kimi

Hot Chocolate 15k and My New Goal

Hey yall!

After the marathon, I took a long break from working out. I also stopped running. (Let’s be honest, I haven’t really run in forever!). Anyway, way back in November, my friend asked me if I wanted to do the Hot Chocolate 15k with her. (Feb 8th) This was before the marathon, so I assumed that I would be able to do a 15k no problem. (hah!) By the way, a 15k is 9.3 miles. I agreed to do it with her because a) I hadn’t seen her in forever because she is at school in another state; b) she is legitimately training for a marathon so I knew that I would push myself to keep up; and c) I want and need to get back into running. I signed up for the race.

Here is the site if yall want to check it out: http://www.hotchocolate15k.com/ (this is where I got the logo)
Basically it’s awesome because you get a jacket instead of a t-shirt and after the race you get hot chocolate and chocolate fondue with dippers! Uh, yes please. #CHOCOLATEMADEMEDOIT

http://www.hotchocolate15k.com/

As I mentioned before, I hadn’t really worked out since the marathon. Well, that isn’t entirely true. I worked out the week after (3x), but then I got sick and did not exercise at all. What I’m getting at is that I was really nervous and didn’t want to do the run when the time came. I told my friend to leave me if I was slowing her down. (Her pace time was 11min/mile) It was snowing/icing the week prior so I was really hoping it would get cancelled– I’M TERRIBLE! Well, I already committed a while back so I had to honor that commitment.

Race day came and it was FREEZING! Literally. I think it was in the early 30s but with the windchill it felt like 20something.  Of course I was also really nervous. My stomach was hurting pretty bad so that made things worse and increased my nervousness. (I used to not get nervous before races; I would just get excited. I guess since I took way too long of a break from running, I sort of dread them now because I am so out of shape? Maybe.) Ok, so race day started out really bad because I had stomach pains. But, I was with my friend and we spent time catching up, so it was all good.

The race started and we took off. I was feeling ok but of course I started getting pretty tired. My mindset was: “We are going to do 9 miles. I should force myself to keep up with her as much as possible so I’m not last.” Yes, I was terrified that I would get last place. (sidenote: “you’re stronger than you think.” Love that inspirational quote) So I keep up with her pretty well, but around mile 4 there were some really intense hills. I power through but by mile 5 I was really worn out. We were running up a steep hill and normally I choose to go fast up a hill so I suffer less, but at that point I was so exhausted from running 5 miles in a row! (I really hadn’t ran that much without walking in months) My friend speeds up and I slow down. I  absolutely encouraged her to leave me and not slow down.

Another sidenote: When I run races (now since I am ok incorporating walk breaks), I make small goals along the way. An example would be planning my walk break at the next water station. In this instance, we had just passed mile marker 5 so I planned on getting water and walking for a bit at the next stop. Around mile 5.5 there are people on the sidewalk with a table and cups, so naturally I assumed it was a water station. I ran up to the person and this is what I saw…

Gig ’em Aggies! (It really was whiskey)

Initially I ran up, saw that it was whiskey, WHOOPed, then ran past them, hoping for water. But, I saw someone else take a picture and since I graduated from A&M I had to capture this and send it to all my fellow Aggie friends. I made my way back and took a picture. This was awesome! I almost took a shot of whiskey, but my stomach was still feeling iffy, so I didn’t risk it. I made it to the next water station and took my walk break. (Mile 6) I decided that I would take a walk break at the water station at Mile 7 and continue on that trend. Well… mile 7 came but there wasn’t a water station. I did say that I would walk at the next water station, so I toughed it out and made it to the mile 8 water station. By this point, I was beyond exhausted but excited as well because there was a little over a mile left! I ended up walking more than I intended to, but I finished strong! My overall time was around 1:48. Here are some pictures of the race.

Cute Chocolate!

Pre Race with the jumbo hot chocolate!

We did it!

#ChocolateMadeMeDoIt

I really enjoyed this race and after I completed it, I felt so proud of myself. I also realized that I wanted to continue to do races and get back into running. My goal is to keep up with running and do more 5k races and 10k races! I think 9 miles was a little too much for me, but once I run more and get better, I think I’ll want to do a 15k race or two! Overall, I am really going to force myself to get out an run more!

What are your fitness goals? Leave me a comment letting me know!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Running!
-Kimi

 

 

Day 4: Animal Kingdom is Incredible

Hello Everyone!

So the day after the marathon was our last day. My sister and I were really sore, but we knew we needed to walk to help loosen up. We also didn’t want to waste our last day! We planned to tackle Animal Kingdom and Epcot. I will talk about Epcot in my next post.

Animal Kingdom was definitely my favorite park!! If yall didn’t know this, I am obsessed with the Lion King and big cats. Basically I want to be Simba. Ok, moving on. Everything at Animal Kingdom was really authentic looking. There were different parts of the park that were decorated like certain parts of the world as well as other things such as ‘Discovery Island’.

We also went on a safari which was so fun! I’ll insert some pictures so yall can get a better feel of what Animal Kingdom looks like and see some of the stuff that we saw!

Safari with the family!

One of the things I loved the most was seeing the tigers!

I LOVE TIGERS

Here are some things that I really enjoyed. We at Pizzafari and it was not very good, but I still love the name. Also, I really got a kick out of the mickey mouse pretzel… how cute! And of course I love the lion king pen that has Nala pinning Simba.

Pizzafari is one of the best words I have ever seen.

Our day at Animal Kingdom ended with a parade. There were Disney characters and really artistic animal looking vehicles. It was really beautiful not only because it was visually pleasing, but the people who participated in the parade were so nice and outgoing. They made it a point to wave at everyone, smile, and some even came up to the people watching and interacted! Plus the music was so fun! It was truly great.

I wish I could show the whole parade, but here are some of my favorite parts!

Thanks for stopping by!
-Kimi

Day 3: Marathon Day! Goal: Finish the Marathon Without Getting Swept Away by the Sad Bus

Hey yall!

Let’s start off with a background story of why I ‘wanted’ to do a marathon…
So, before I did a half marathon (Nov 2012) I wanted to do a full marathon just to prove to myself I could and really just so I could say that I did it. But, when I actually trained for and fully ran a half marathon, I really had no desire to ever do a full. It would kill my knees! Anyway, fast forward a few months, when my sister (who is less active than me. not in a negative way, but this is important to the story) says she wants to do a full marathon. She had not done a half so I like to say that she, hmm, wasn’t in tune with reality. Anyway, she says she wants to do a marathon and throws out the idea of doing the Disney one. I am still in a hate/hate relationship with running (after training for three straight months and doing the half, I was SO TIRED of running) so I am trying to make her see the light. She is stubborn, just like me, so she said she was going to do it with or without me. Well, if you don’t know this about me, I am a VERY competitive person when it comes to sports and working out and stuff like that. (along with other things too) So, the competitive nature of mine is what drove me to sign up for the marathon. I can’t sit here while Roo does a marathon, can I?!?!? Nope. So, I signed up.

RACE DAY!

Sunday January 12, 2014 was the Walt Disney World Marathon. 26.2 miles. TWENTY SIX POINT TWO MILES. It sounds so ridiculous. The race started at 5:30am so naturally we woke up at… 2:45am?! There was a shuttle bus at our hotel that took people to the race that ran from 3-4.

Shuttle Bus

I couldn’t fall asleep the night before because I was so anxious. I wanted to cry because I was dreading it! To be honest, I still wasn’t sure I would be able to finish. I didn’t train, (I worked out on a semi regular basis, so it wasn’t like I did not move before. Although I was sick for a month this past fall and I didn’t workout) so my goal was to finish the marathon without getting swept up by the Sad Bus. The Sad Bus, as my sister and I call it, was a bus that would sweep up people who were going too slow. The slowest you could go was a 16min mile pace. It sounds TOTALLY doable right?! Almost easy! BUT 26.2 miles is A LOT of miles to be moving.

It’s obnoxious to post this, but I sent this picture to James the night before because I was so anxious about the race. I needed someone to talk to so that I could calm down! Also… #demeyebrows

I think I slept maybe 30minutes, but it was time. Time to do a marathon. Again, I still wasn’t sure I could do it. To be completely honest, I wasn’t sure I could do the marathon until after I finished, but I’ll get to that later. So it was 3:30am and we were on the shuttle, ready to take off. I was still anxious, but not as much. It was time. Whatever happened would happen and it was too late to turn back! (I am definitely NOT a quitter- all those years of soccer and physically pushing myself beyond what I thought I could do really helped my mental game) Also, my sister and I both bought shirts that were inspirational. They said “every mile is magic” so that helped calm me as well.

Every Mile Is Magic

All of the runners were assigned a corral (A-Q, I think?). Group A started first at exactly 5:30am and every few minutes they would let the next group start. We were in Group O so we didn’t start the race until 6:30. I remember being hungry before we started. I ate breakfast– at 3:00! Anyway, my sister and I had our plan: we were going to alternate between running 30 seconds and walking 30 seconds, as Jeff Galloway recommended. While waiting for the start, we made a friend named Rachel. It was her first marathon as well and she asked if she could run with us so we said of course! She was really nice.

The race started and we were off! It was a little discouraging to run 30 seconds then walk 30 seconds in the beginning because everyone is passing you and you have so much energy, you just want to run run run! BUT, I am glad we didn’t start off only running. It helped in the long run. Throughout the race, we split up with Rachel because of bathroom breaks and different paces. (She was way faster than us!). Ok, let’s get down to the race. It was so fun (in the beginning) running by everything in Disney and seeing a bunch of attractions. The race started in Magic Kingdom, then Animal Kingdom, then Hollywood Studios and finished in Epcot. A lot of the good sights were in Magic Kingdom which was good because that is when we had the most energy.

Throughout the whole race, I had to keep motivating myself. The distance was wayyyy more than I had ever done before. I ran (fully ran! … because i actually trained. I never wanted and don’t have the desire to RUN a full marathon.) a half marathon in November 2012, but WOW 26.2 miles is DOUBLE that. (of course it is… it was a half marathon haha) I think I mentioned this before, but I am a very mentally tough, but I still had to talk myself through it, mile per mile. We were doing well for the first half on the race: consistently doing the 30/30, staying above pace. Around mile 14 or 15 was when problems started, for both of us. I thought my knees were going to be the thing that hurt the most, but actually it was a pain in my foot that I had never felt. It was on the opposite side of my arch, so, the outside of my left foot. It hurt to put any weight on it, so walking was better for me. Roo’s knee and ankle were hurting her pretty badly, so we decided to walk it out and take more breaks. Both of our backs were really hurting as well. We ended up walking a lot of miles after that. The next part of the race was the worst for me…

It was around the 17 mile marker (yep, this is starting to sound comical) when I started really wondering if I was going to be able to finish. I am really embarrassed and almost ashamed to admit that I honestly thought to myself, “hey, if you get to mile 20, I will still be proud.” Like… WHAT! I am not a quitter, but this distance was really getting to me. Anyway, this was the point in the race where we were running on the right side of the street and we could see people who were ahead of us on the left side. We thought the turn around point was going to be the stop sign that was a mile ahead, but no, there was a loop around the ESPN complex. That damn loop was the worst part! It’s kind of funny because I love sports and really enjoyed the Expo and atmosphere at the ESPN complex. This day, however, the atmosphere was totally different: It was miserable. For both of us! Again, every step was a struggle and I had to keep telling myself I could do it. What really helped me a lot though, was my sister. She was being incredibly positive. I had to motivate myself (she did too! and helped me!), but I was NOT positive at that point and had not been since my foot started hurting. I ended up crying towards the end of the ESPN part because everything kind of hit me at once: I was in really bad pain, we could get swept up, there was still a couple more HOURS of moving, and the main thing, this whole marathon experience was really hard.

Anyway, SOMEHOW we made it through ESPN (it probably isn’t actually called that, but hey oh well) and got back to the left side of the road. (nobody was on the right because we were going at a slow pace already. We are around mile 20 (i think??) and even though I am mad and in pain and thirsty and exhausted, I see two of the most inspirational things of the race:
1. A sign (I WISH I GOT A PICTURE OF IT, but NO, I was not worried about taking pictures at that time) that said: “You can go the distance. -Hercules”
2. A lady who had written a sign that said: “The last 100 people impress me more than the first 100”

Another sidenote: I love the movie Hercules and I LOVE GO THE DISTANCE!! (and ‘won’t say I’m in love, DUH). Anyway, seeing those two gave me more motivation. I was still damn tired and still hoping I would finish and not get collected by the Sad Bus, but this really helped. I was also very touched by all of the encouraging words and people who came out to support the runners. It was really beautiful. Also, I will say it again, my sister was a HUGE factor in me finishing the race. I want to say that I know I could have done it without her, but surprisingly she helped me so much. I owe her a lot because she was so motivational to me without even knowing it!

Ok, back to the race. Almost done! 6 miles? You have already done 20, so 6 isn’t that bad!!! Right? WRONG! (at least to me). It was still painful, but yes, I guess mentally it should be nice to think about. Wrong again! It takes us so long to complete one mile (15-16mins) so that is still well over an hour of moving (walking left!).

Ok so more motivation. More pain. But wait, what are those behind us? BALLOONS. Balloon are nice you think. NOT THESE. These balloons were evil. They were the cutoff sign: If the balloons pass you, then the Sad Bus would come and sweep you away. (I say this in a joking way, but I was really scared towards the end). More walking. More being tired. Around mile 22 the balloons were still within sight behind us. I started getting mad. Actually one lady voiced what I was thinking, “really? Yall are going to sweep us when we have made it 22 damn miles?!” I gave her a smile and said that I agreed.

By this point, I was so tired that I started to become irrationally angry. Yeah, we HAVE made it this far and THEY want to take that away from us? (the rules clearly stated the time frame that people had to follow if they didn’t want to get swept; it was not a surprise) Come on, if we have gone twenty two damn miles and we aren’t gonna be able to finish?! This new anger in me turned into motivation. I tried forgetting about my foot and I sped up. I did not want those balloons near me. Now was my time to motivate my sister. She had helped me so much during the race, but she was getting really tired and was in pain too. I helped her along and motivated another mile, but she saw that I wanted to go faster so she told me to go ahead and speed up. Before, we had planned on staying together the whole time, which we basically stuck to that plan, but at that point, running was somehow less painful than walking, so after she assured me it was ok, I took off.

This “run” was obviously very slow, but hey, I still call it running. I am proud to say that I ran the last 2-3 miles and even sprinted at the end. Well, I sprinted as fast as I could at that point. It doesn’t matter how slow I went, I accomplished my goal: I completed 26.2 miles without getting swept up by the Sad Bus. Roo finished a few minutes after me so we both accomplished our goal! This is another embarrassing part, but I cried when I finished, too. I think this time it was more happy (or at least not angry/frustrated cry) tears. I waited right past the finish line for Roo, but they said I had to keep moving forward, I went to the ice tent and waited for Roo there.

I did it!!!! First picture I took after the race. And yes, I had just got done tearing up.

Roo finished and we both were happy yet in serious pain. We went to get iced, but WOW what an amazing feeling! It was so great to do the marathon together! But really… after we finished, we both felt pretty miserable and we could barely walk.

Sissypals! WE DID IT, ROO!!!

We (at least I) didn’t feel happy and on the endorphin high until we got back to the hotel room. I forced myself to take a cold shower then I fell asleep. All I wanted to eat was pizza and being the amazing parents they are, got us pizza. It was glorious.

Pizza sidenote: I always get nervous when I think about what my favorite food is, but I realized that after the marathon I could have had any food I wanted and I chose pizza, so it must be my favorite! Either way, I really love pizza.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I apologize about this post being so long, but when I do something, I don’t want to half ass it. Also, it was therapeutic to re-live this day. Seeing my medal and remember that I completed a marathon really motivates me and makes me realize that I can do anything. Cheesy, but it’s how I feel. I hope you enjoyed this post!
-Kimi

Close up of the medal

I DID IT!!!