Thursday Thoughts

1. Last night I went for a run. I feel like a bag of old bones today because I'm sore and my hip hurts. Yeah.

2. I also did 8 minute legs and 8 minute arms. They are no joke. The guy's outfit in the videos must be though. But! Solid workout in 16 minutes = sign me up!

3. Tonight I'm going to see Ghost on Broadway with my family. Not sure what to expect...regardless, it will be no Patrick Swayze...let's just get that out there right now.

4. Last night I made a new salad dressing that I thoroughly enjoyed. Red wine vinegar, mustard, garlic...perfect on a bed of romaine and arugula.

5. Thanks to Kimberly for leaving a giant vat of arugula here on Saturday after Mom's birthday party! It's kept me fed all week.

6. I ate about 10 of Kim's compost cookies this week, following Mom's birthday party. Yes, they are the size of my head. And yes, I really did eat like 10.

7. Tim Tebow is going to the Jets! Shaun is thrilled. Looks like Dad will need a new Tebow jersey. We're all very excited, even the Giants fans.

Dad Tebowing on Christmas morning, with his new jersey

8. It's supposed to be like 75 degrees in the tri-state area today. Cute skirts here I come! Now if only my legs were quite so pasty. Ack.

9. The Hunger Games movie comes out this weekend...is anyone braving the crowds? Maybe we will go on Saturday night...if not, I can wait one more week to make it happen.

10. Speaking of...could Jennifer Lawrence be any more stunning? I'm in love with this dress, her hair, her makeup...

image source

11. I blew through Delirium and am now full force into Pandemonium. Is anyone else reading Delirium? Remember we will have a disscussion on the blog in a couple of weeks if you'd like to read it!

12. You can now find some of my recipes on The Daily Meal and on Fave Healthy Recipes.

13. You can still enter the SlimKicker slow cooker giveaway! It's open until noon today. Head over to make it happen!

14. I'm really wishing that I got it up enough to repaint my nails last night. I'm still rocking I Have a Herring Problem and loving it...but let's face it, after a week it's time for a change.

Question of the Day:

What are your thoughts today?!

Birthday Cake Part I: Fluffy Yellow Cake + Milk Chocolate Frosting

Thanks for all of your comments in the SlimKicker giveaway! In case you missed it, head over to yesterday's post to enter to win a slow cooker from SlimKicker! SlimKicker turns your diet/fitness goals into a level-up game.  When you join, you get points as you count calories, track your fitness, and participate in challenges. You have until tomorrow at noon to enter the giveaway!

As I mentioned, this weekend was a big birthday weekend in our families! Both my mom and Shaun's mom's birthdays fall within a week of each other. In fact, March is a big birthday month on both sides of our families all around.

But this past weekend, we celebrated Shaun's Mom's birthday on Friday evening. We had offered to bring dessert and so I got to work on finding a cake to bake in celebration. I wasn't 100% sure of what her favorite combination would be and so I decided to keep it very simple. I decided on a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

If you're a long time reader, you may recall this post of yore in which I broke Kimberly's birthday cake in half while getting it out of the pan. I had to remake the cake. I had used a Betty Crocker recipe for that one and even despite the cake breaking...well, I just didn't love the cake itself.

It looked pretty though after I remade it though, no?

So for this one, I went in search of a new recipe. I dug out my America's Test Kitchen Cookbook and found a recipe for Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake and Milk Chocolate Frosting. I have really been loving this cookbook. Though many of the recipes I've tried require a lot of extra steps, unlike a simple Betty Crocker, I have found that this book just has not steered me wrong. Every recipe thus far has been a winner! This one included.

I frosted up the cake with loads of milk chocolate frosting and Shaun dusted the entire top with sprinkles. Sprinkles makes everthing better, don't they?

Following a delicious Italian dinner, we headed back to Shaun's parents' house and it was time for dessert!

And time for the moment of truth for me! I was so hoping that this cake turned out fabulously.

It did!

Luckily, this was one of the best cakes I've ever made. It was so good and I can't wait to make it again!

I didn't post the recipe because I literally took it straight from the book with very minor adaptations. If you are interested in making this, I can add the recipe! Let me know! I should also note that I worked very hard to frost this cake and did an average job at best. I'm just not a cake decorator! But if you have any cake frosting advice, lay it on me!

Questions of the Day:

Have you ever been in charge of dessert for a birthday?

What did you make? Or bring (even if you didn't make it yourself)?

We also picked up a couple of pints of Ben & Jerry's since we know Shaun's mom loves ice cream! It was an extra fun treat!

For some more America's Test Kitchen recipes, you may also see:

Loaded butterscotch blondies with salted chocolate glaze (I heavily adapted this one!)

Skillet roasted chicken + potato wedges

Pineapple coconut dream bars (also very heavily adapted, but a great base cake!)

My Favorite Quick Dinners

Thanks for all of your comments in the SlimKicker giveaway! In case you missed it, head over to yesterday's post to enter to win a slow cooker from SlimKicker! SlimKicker turns your diet/fitness goals into a level-up game.  When you join, you get points as you count calories, track your fitness, and participate in challenges.

Meanwhile...some evenings I'm just so.not.into cooking. I know it seems like I happily and dutifully cook dinner each night, but let's face it...sometimes I'm just not into it. Sometimes, I get home late from work or I'm just feeling plain lazy and don't want to then spend 30+ minutes on preparing dinner. Let's face it, the eating process itself is finished in about 10 minutes and so spending more than 1/2 hour on dinner prep at 7:30 just doesn't sound appealing.

I've rounded up some of my favorite quick dinners to share. Hope you enjoy them!

Stir fry. This always does the trick. I throw lots of leftover veggies into a pan and saute away (yeah rhymes!). I love this dish because you can add anything to it. I like onions, bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, string beans...and I often use frozen veggies too. Toss with a little soy sauce or stir fry sauce and you are golden.

Grown-up English muffin pizza. Seriously, this comes together in minutes. So good, so easy and seems like such a treat. A 100 calorie English muffin, topped with jarred tomato sauce, sprinkled with oregano and bail and finished with a thick slice of fresh mozzarella. Mmmm mmmm good.

Quinoa. I love mixing in anything I have in the fridge, like my lemon feta version. I actually just created a really fantastic Mediterranean-style version last night that I can't wait to share with you.

Pesto pasta. And I adore this oil-free version. I made a big batch with last season's fresh basil and simply defrost it in the microwave when I'm in a pinch. Added to spaghets with a little parmesan...sigh.

Roasted pepper, goat cheese & basil frittata. Or any frittata for that matter! These are fantastic because they take about 10 minutes to make and you can literally add any ingredients you have on hand. Leftover veggies, low fat cheese...they all make great frittatas.

A big, juicy salad. I love it with homemade vinagrette, tangy goat cheese and dried cranberries or a chopped up apple. Works every time.

Black bean quesadillas. Another dish that comes together in 10 minutes. I mix black beans with salsa, load up a tortilla in a skillet, add some low fat cheese and cook through. Delish.

And my absolute favorite of late?

Skillet tortilla pizza. I've been eating these a lot lately. I always have the ingredients on hand and it comes together in a matter of minutes!

So there you have it. My favorite quick dinners. Oh and let's not forget a nice plate of cheese and crackers! That is definitely on my list as well :)

Have a great day everyone! And don't forget to enter the giveaway if you haven't already!

Question of the Day:

What are your favorite quick dinners?