There’s a really bad T-Pain joke in this post

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Well I woke up sore today. But I guess I can’t say ‘woke up’ if I never really slept! I tossed and turned all night because of all my aches and pains. And because the dog was rolling all over me.

Must’ve been those stinkin’ (but awesome) burpees from Monday night.

All I did yesterday was run! (40 minutes..woooo!)

I still haven’t changed the time since daylight savings on my Garmin.

I finally ordered an armband online yesterday for my iPod touch! I can’t wait for it to get here because I’ve been using this thing since 2007.

Tyler brought me home a flower that’s hard to kill! How thoughtful. No seriously, I squealed with excitement. And Layla sniffed like crazy.

For dinner, we had kabobs. Steak, zucchini, red peppers and mushrooms. I didn’t do anything to the veggies, but I marinated the steak for a couple hours in 1 part whiskey and 1 part balsamic vinegar. Super tasty!

And some macaroons for dessert:

I was crafting for a bit (still not done) in the afternoon, and Layla took it upon herself to wear my scarf. I think she rocked it.

Now, onto random ramblings. Because I do those best.

1. I have to change which post office I go to now because the girl at my usual stop knows that I sent out wedding stuff, so now every time she sees me (which is OFTEN) she asks me about it. And then relays stamp and package information to me. Like I give a hoot.

2. Ahh, speaking of giving a hoot. I found a great gift for a Christmas swap yesterday, but didn’t buy it. I’m writing it here as i reminder because I always walk around with my blog posts on my phone (it’s a means of PR people)

Totally jk-ing. Or am I? I have been known to shout out my blog name to strangers..

3. I posted a video on my personal facebook page last week about dance moves. Here are further instructions on how to get jiggy with it:

4. I have 3 holiday recipes starred in my google reader that I CANNOT wait to make. Of course, they all have 32059720957209 calories, so that should be interesting.

5. But if I get this spoon (or someone wants to get it for me) then I guess I’ll be ok.

(Source)

6. No class next week because of Thanksgiving. Feel free to come up to me and be all T-Pain like and Buy Me A Drink (get it? hahaha the song?! I crack myself UP)

7. Pretend you didn’t read #6. That was just terrible.

8. Does anyone watch Ben&Kate? In lasts night’s episode she told Will she’ll see him later. With her looking balls. I just about died with laughter. Totally using that one.

Tell me something random. Or something funny. If it’s a random funny thing, then you’re multitasking. So talented.

******UPDATE: If you’re in Canada and interested in signing up for a cookie swap, please e-mail me at jtougas77 (at) gmail (dot) com by Friday, November 16th!******

Thursday Things

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

1. Check out this little craft I did yesterday that cost only $5 and took about 5 minutes to complete:

Each of those 81/2×11″ frames were 25 cents and the scrapbook paper was 99cents a sheet!

I have two other christmas craft projects that I might wait to complete over the weekend (it includes paint and candles and glitter and glue and all that jazz)

2. Last night’s dinner was FANTASTIC. I took the recipe from SkinnyTaste, and only tweaked it a bit. <—because I am terrible at converting ounces to grams and then usually halving the recipe for just the two of us. Yes, pretty much everything here is in grams which drives me freaking batty.

Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole

Here’s what you need:

2 large boneless chicken breasts
3 cups no yolk noodles
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large crown of broccoli
1 tbsp butter
1/8 cup minced onion
3 tbsp flour
1 cup shredded cheddar
3 tbsp parmesan cheese
2 tbsp bread crumbs

Here’s what you do:

1. Put the chicken in the crock pot on high for roughly 4 hours and shred with two forks when it’s done. (submerge the chicken in chicken broth, enough to cover the meat- this is not included in the list of ingredients0

2. Cook the noodles until they are almost al dente. Strain and set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 375, spray 8×8 with cooking spray.

4. Put the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and allow it to simmer for about a minute. Then add the broccoli florets. Turn the heat to low and cover the skillet to allow the broccoli to steam.

5. In a large pot, add the butter. Once it’s melted, throw in the onion and allow the onion to soften for a few minutes. Add the flour until incorporated. Then add the chicken broth and whisk thoroughly. Add the milk and bring the mixture to a boil (stirring occasionally). Once brought to a boil, turn it back down to medium heat and allow 6-7 minutes for mixture to thicken. Remove from heat, and add the cheddar cheese and 1 tbsp parmesan. Mix well.

6. Add shredded chicken, noodles, and broccoli to the cream mixture in pot.

7. Pour the mixture into the 8×8 dish. Top with remaining 2 tbsp parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.

8. Bake for 20 minutes, then allow it to sit under the broil for a couple minutes to allow the top to brown.

9. Eat! (We added some sriracha to our portions. yum!)

(I always use the smaller plates for my meals, and leave the big plates for Tyler. Perception of having the plate full can really deceive your eating habits!)

3. I worked out at home yesterday and did the strength workout B from Best Body Bootcamp. It was an interesting workout, and I adjusted a few moves to accommodate the equipment I have. The toughest one was what I substituted for hamstring curls- I actually used my gliding discs for these. Yikes, my hammies were screaming after that set. There were cardio intervals within the supersets and I finished it off with some kickboxing. Check out this super flattering picture.

(Notice that my HEAD is wider than my entire body. Oy)

4. It was during my workout (in ‘my’ room) that I noticed it’s been a while since I updated my calendar.

Just a few months off. No biggie. But July is my favorite. 4th of July, my birthday, summer= all happy things.

5. A lot of people do throwback thursday pics. Since I am now 3000 miles from home, I couldn’t really bring any of my stuff with me, so I don’t really have any of my childhood pictures. But I do have this gem that my mom somehow brought this summer.

It was my understanding that in 5th grade, prescription sunglasses were HOT. Looking at it now: NO THEY’RE NOT.

6. I got shout outs on both Leigh AND Alison’s blogs today (ladies, I am totally stealing that post soon!) Woo hoo!

7. It’s not a new song, but it’s been a huge player this week in my workouts. Love me some hip hop/electro mixes (mostly the hip hop part though). The best part:

Ugly girls be quiet, quiet, pretty girls clap, clap like this
Ugly girls be quiet, quiet, pretty girls clap, clap like this

(I obviously clap)

Pretty Girls (Benny Benassi remix)

What song (new or old) do you have on heavy rotation lately?

Yummy Chili

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Recipe you MUST try: Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili from SkinnyTaste

Holy Moly, was it tasty (and there’s a bit left, so I get some more today!) I actually made half of what the recipe calls for since the two of us are pretty sucky at using up all the leftovers. I topped mine with a dallop of greek yogurt and a pinch of cheese.

Yesterday’s workout felt GOOD. I did the strengh “ladders” from this phase of Best Body Bootcamp at home, then went to the gym to bust out a 30 minute interval run and 20 minutes on the spin bike. Here’s what my run looked like:

Hey, so I am going to be boring and do another survey. Mostly because the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet and I am brain dead. Yay!

1. Last thing you ate:

Multigrain Cheerios (my weekday breakfast of choice)

2. Last beverage you drank:

Coffee. Coffee. Coffee.

3. Last workout:

See above

4. Last thing you pinned:

Lace wrapped mason jars

(I totally forgot about pinning this, by the way, but I ironically took a bunch of used glass candle jars- put them in the freezer for a couple hours, popped out the leftover wax, and now they’re ready to get some similar decorating!)

5. Last text message you sent:

Well, it’s not the last one, but I thought this rant I sent Tyler yesterday was pretty funny

6. Last blog you visited:

Meh, I sort of skimmed over a ton and Marked as Read when I woke up- haven’t clicked back over yet to check more out. Actually, I lied. I clicked on Its Linz post on pumpkin muffins (through twitter)

7. Last tweet you sent:

8. Last place you visited:

Yesterday I went to Safeway, Pet Planet, and the Y. Super exciting stuff.

9. Last time you did ab work:

Sunday night. I did side crunches on the bender ball.

10. Last show you watched:

We have been recording this season of Revenge because I was obsessed with it. But I watched the first episode of this season this morning, and I am so over it.

(Source)

11. Last thing you baked:

Pumpkin Bread!

12. Last thing you Instagrammed:

Some pre-workout powder I got in one of my Bulu Boxes

13. Last Item on your to-do list today:

Well, ummmmm…..

And I leave you with my thoughts about school right now:

Ok, your turn- answer one or some or all of these!

Let’s get to it.

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Happy Monday, folks. Let’s get to it.

1. I won 2 tickets to the Kensington Wine Market Wine Fest on Friday! I was so excited because I really never win anything- and this I could share with Tyler!. Unfortunately, he got my cold, so at the time he couldn’t really taste much. We still had fun though!

There were 80 wines to try, and they were separated by country. Only one bottle of each wine was opened, so we were encouraged to ‘move on’ to another sample to allow for others to get a try. They had some food catered- finger foods as well as meat and cheese platters (I got hooked on the smoked bison).

And Crave cupcakes!

The event ran from 7-9pm. At 8pm, they brought out the cupcakes and dessert wines. If I could have just drank port all night, I would have been fine with that.

I got a good laugh because everyone arrived very timid and quiet, and by the first 15 minutes, we were all buzzed and chatting. Tyler and I made nice with the Spain and US tables. MMmmmmMMM (I have the pamphlet they gave us which listed all the wines, but I have yet to take a picture to share with you. I would do it now, but I am typing this in bed and I’m too comfy to move. Maybe another time.)

So fun!

2. Saturday, we ran tons of errands. But who cares about those. When we got home a bunch of hours later, we carved our pumpkins!

Tyler’s came out better than mine. Whatever. I scraped the insides out of both of those suckers, so I’m the real hero.

His:

Mine:

And I roasted the seeds! I had no idea how friggin easy that was. AND TASTY.

4. Our post pumpkin treats were….beer. We indulged in some seasonal brews from one of my faves, Big Rock Brewery. We loved all three!

Autumn Wheat: Spiced Ale. Light in taste. Great with din din.

Loved the Espresso Stout! Only 4.2% alcohol content. It tasted like cold coffee with a hint of beer. There was absolutely no aftertaste. We both thought this would be nasty, but it was an awesome surprise. I could have drank about 6 more of them.

But I moved on..

Winter Spice Ale was 6.0% alcohol content, so I thought it would be massively strong, but it was still quite pleasant. Seriously, there is not a single beer from Big Rock that I don’t like. Good job, guys.

5. Oh, and I actually got dressed on Saturday. Like, makeup and everything. That never happens. Even Tyler gave me a double look because of it.

Not TOO shabby.

6. Yesterday I finished up my two midterms. Not fun, but after about 5 hours of work, I submitted both and the weight was immediately lifted. Now, only 5 weeks to go and I’ll have my Masters!

7. Layla is a lazy bum.

8. Workouts. Love em. Let’s talk about em.

Friday

Best Body Bootcamp workout C (It was a mostly-arms circuit)
20 minutes of kickboxing

Saturday

Sunday

The 100 workout

Oh wait, you don’t know what that is? Probably because I made it up. I was too busy making pumpkin pancakes, watching football, doing schoolwork, and finishing my book to get to the gym for any cardio yesterday (wasn’t up for cardio anyways), so I do a bunch of strength stuff in my jammies at home.

100 pushups
100 Gliding side lunges
100 stability ball situps
100 lateral raises
100 wall squats
100 leg lifts

Today will be an INTENSE cardio session followed by Workout A from BBB.

8. I bought toilet paper this weekend. I know, I know, it’s a big deal. I used to buy it at Target (in bulk), and it’s cheap. But grocery stores are significantly more expensive. I chose the cheapest one, which oddly enough was 3-ply. The verdict? 3-ply is no better than 2-ply, so don’t waste your pennies. #justsaying.

9. Started this book last night:

(Source)

10. Got the new Pink CD. Played it on Friday night after we got home from the Wine Fest, and of course I had a dance party (with myself. Tyler doesn’t dance, and Layla usually just stands in front of me and stares)

This one is my fave: (you probably won’t see the link if you’re viewing this through Google Reader)

11. Important notes saved on my phone:

These are very imporant

Trash can liner size
light bulbs for house
light bulbs for kitchen lights
weight conversion (mostly for meat in the grocery store)
gas prices. I still don’t understand why they price it so crazy looking,

Ok, I have to get to the mall. See ya.

ROOF!

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

I think my new favorite exercise (at least for this week) are TRX tabatas. They are no joke. I formatted yesterday’s class to incorporate 2 moves on the band (to fatigue), then do two moves with dumbbells that use the same muscle groups. After those were complete, we would do a 90 seconds cardio burst. We did this for 5 rounds, but I snuck in two different tabatas to really get our blood pumping. The first was TRX squat jumps and the second was Swimmer Starts (shown at minute 1:20).

I originally planned to get in a quick run after class, but since my muscles were pretty much dead after class, I just walked back to my car and headed home. I got a pretty sweet sunset shot on the walk to my car

Today’s funny story is brought to you by….ME!

I am still pretty much a child in that when I see something, like a duck, I’ll either shout “duck!” or “quack!” Or I read signs aloud as we drive by. Stuff like that. On an unrelated note, we are getting our roof done (they came and delivered the materials 2 weeks ago, we are just waiting for them to come back and actually do it.) Anyways, because we were in the process of picking out what color roof, we would point out ones we liked when we were out walking Layla. So, the other day when we were in the car, I noticed a lot of houses in a row were getting their roofs re-done. So I yelled “roof!” and Tyler goes……”you saw a dog? What kind?”

Hhahahaha, does anyone see the humor in this? My idiot self shouting ROOF sounded like WOOF. I really need to grow up and not proclaim things as I see them.

Read this post about plateauing. You will laugh.

I found some REALLY BAD pictures from college. So I thought I’d share some of them with you. This is prior to he existence of facebook, so these are what I like to call ‘rare finds.’ Enjoy. Or barf.