let sleeping dogs lie

My puppy is asleep.

Do I clean, exercise, or make cupcakes (that I will still NOT EAT)?

Or do I read about how to stop your puppy from chewing on EVERYTHING...even your face if it gets too close!

pups and pancakes

My time has been eaten up by one quite adorable puppy named Bailey.

Bailey Floski Twist Simmons, to be exact.

She's napping now, which means it's time for me to do something productive.

Maybe workout? Price lawnmower/washer/dryer for the new house? Play on facebook? Maybe make some more yummy BEAN PANCAKES. Seriously. They taste a little "healthy-ish" but they're full of fiber, protein, and I think with a little PB they're a pretty awesome snack.

1 can of white beans (Cannellini - rinsed)

3 eggs (medium)
2 Tbls of Splenda (to taste)
1 Tbl of Vanilla
1 tsp of Almond Extract
2-3 Tbls of Flax Seed*
1/4 cup of pecans/ walnuts*
1/4 cup fat free half-half
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of Cinnamon
1 tsp of Nutmeg

Place all ingredients into a food processor/ blender to combine. Can be made into pancakes or waffles with delicious results. :)
* optional

Edit: the first time I made these with navy beans (the small kind) that I had rinsed very well, added the flax seed and used a little milk instead of the half-half. I thought they were pretty good for a fiber/protein snack. The second time around, I used cannelini beans (bigger) and maybe didn't rinse them quite as well...and they tasted like beans (I also didn't use the flax, pecans, or nearly as much nutmeg). After the first icky pancake, I added pecan pieces and allspice to the mix. Quite a bit better. Of course, smothering it in PB doesn't hurt, either. :)

so I swore I would never be one of THOSE moms...

...but we haven't even had our puppy 24 hours and I've already called the vet...

...twice.

Here is a slideshow of her first day. Can you imagine what it will be like when we have human children?

Edit: We actually called the vet three times. And went over to the vet's office. Within 24 hours of having her! I think that might be a record.

For the record, though, I'm not THAT crazy - she had fleas and momma needed to get rid of those because I DO NOT LIKE BUGS. Crisis averted!

Diet

So....I started a diet.

I have never restricted what I eat before (except for giving up chocolate and things like that for Lent every year...which sometimes doesn't go too well!). I always feel like the food I eat is typically pretty healthy (except for my cupcake problem, you know...but I give most of them away!)

Anyway, I've noticed the past few months my clothes were getting a little tighter. I haven't gained a lot of weight but I figured that if I was going to tell my patients to diet and exercise for their health I should do it too.

The problem is, I am sort of enjoying it.

I really enjoy making food, and although I can't eat the cupcakes (I have about 50 cupcakes and a full size cake in my freezer right now that I've been making and can't eat ANY) I still get to make myself a nutritious and balanced breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm eating tons of fresh vegetables and I'm not starving! I actually even wanted a soda for lunch and passed it up for water...happily...what is wrong with me?!

Don't get me wrong, I was working on these cupcake toppers and made an entire bag of chocolate chips into modeling chocolate, I was molding this HUGE blob of chocolate last night - it smelled absolutely amazing and it was terrible not to eat any of it! But, I knew that I wasn't hungry and didn't need any of it. I don't even like the texture of modeling chocolate anyway, so I just reminded myself of that and had a healthy snack instead.

As an aside, Werthers makes sugar free hard candy (caramel flavor) that tastes just like FUNFETTI CUPCAKES. And you can eat 5 of them for 40 calories. It's not only my crazy brain that thinks that - Chris agreed with me. They're delicious!

You may hear more about how this is going...if not...I probably fell off the bandwagon just like my patients :)

Guess what else I'm doing today: Puppy-proofing my house because Bailey comes home tomorrow! I'm so excited! I'm also a dork and I keep googling "pet-safe household cleaners" "organic pet treat recipes" and other ridiculous things. I can't imagine how I will be when we actually have a baby on the way! :)

belated birthday (cake)

My dad's birthday was in April...and I took pictures of his cake! It was chocolate-raspberry (probably his favorite flavor combination). I tried really hard to make really fluffy pink icing layers inside but unfortunately most of them squished out with the weight of the dense cakes. So, I have no pictures of the inside - you'll just have to trust me that it was super yummy!

I made the frosting and the flowers out of something called "modeling chocolate" - it's actually really easy to make - just melt chocolate chips or candy melts and add corn syrup - it turns into a delicious Play Doh!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

cupcakes galore

My friend Kateri introduced me to a new website a couple weekends ago:

www.bettycrocker.com

I about fell over when I saw it (it wasn't the gin and tonic I was drinking, really). It has hundreds of recipes...for cupcakes! I'd been looking for a boozy cupcake to make, thinking about mojitos, mint juleps, margaritas, etc and the first two recipes that came up were for mojito cake and champagne cupcakes.

I needed to try these right away! The recipes use box cake mix - I usually like to make it myself because I like the "from scratch" flavors but I love any kind of cake so I wasn't about to stick my nose up at this. I made the pink champagne cupcakes (basically the only difference is using champagne instead of water, which I personally think is a good substitution!) and they got rave reviews from EVERYBODY - we had a party for Mother's day and a good family friend had a graduation party - and both groups enjoyed the cupcakes immensely!

They're cute on their own, but with these little bubbly sprinkles I got at the craft store how much cuter could they possibly get?! Yummmm...

Those were fun...and I just tried out a new recipe today (Ina Garten's chocolate cake) that I'm turning into graduation cupcakes for my cousin, Julia, who is graduating high school this weekend. One day I offered to make her a cake for her graduation - to my surprise, she accepted, and said that the cake needed to feed 60 people! Goodness...I have my work cut out for me! Once I decide how to make it I will most definitely be putting up pictures.

Edit: This is extra hard for me as I'm on a no-cupcake diet (not even tasting!) for the next few weeks...trying to shed the honeymoon/post-wedding/interview season/holiday/I-have-more-free-time-so-I-bake-a-lot extra pounds I've put on. Exercise just isn't going to cut it alone...but man oh man is it hard! Why did I agree to bake a cake when I can't eat any!??! why!?!

Dr. Katie

It's finally here!

I'm a doctor!

It's surreal...yesterday I woke up and was just regular old Katie, now I'm Dr. Katie. I don't feel any smarter, that's for sure. Actually, I still feel sort of dumb. Like I need to go get out some of my textbooks (before packing them away for good when we move) and learn something.

Am I really qualified for this?

Yes, I am. Even though I don't feel like

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but a doc that I worked with once taught me this: She said nurse practitioners and PAs come in to her office to work and are confident in what they do, but medical students come in and are so unsure and nervous about making decisions. She then went on to tell me that, as medical students, we learn SO MUCH MORE than these other healthcare providers and have an extensive knowledge base. The difference, then, is that the NP/PA books are less detailed - almost excessively so. Their books simplify everything, but these providers KNOW everything in their book. They got a 100% on their exam. They are ultra confident they know everything there is to know.

Not us medical students. We have huge textbooks filled with every detail and we know that we have no idea what is in most of them. We realize we are limited in our knowledge, so we are hesitant to make firm decisions.

She's not discounting NP/PAs. They do a lot of work and there are plenty of them in her practice! She just wanted us to realize that we understand and know much more than we give ourselves credit for. This made me feel pretty awesome!

Sorry for all the rambling. I'm a doctor now! Hooray! We had a nice party at my mom's house and had a great day. I actually got everyone--and I mean EVERYONE--to come see my new house (we had the realtor open it up). It was fun to see everyone checking out our place - they all seemed to like it a lot. Which is good I suppose, because I like it a lot too!

What am I going to do with all my doctorness now? Well, today I'm making monkey bread to make up for the fact that I missed one of my best friend's bachelorette party last night (sorry Sab!) - I don't think this quite qualifies as hangover food but it's making my house smell amazing. This coming week, I'm making my first trip ever to Ikea and then...getting our puppy! The next week we'll close on our house and then I'll be moving. Lots of big changes coming up and I'm so excited to see what the future holds!

Workout DVDs part 2

I really like workout DVDs. You can wear your weird-looking but comfy shorts with only a sports bra, sweat until you think your face is about to fall off, and generally look as awkward as you need to in the privacy of your own home. Plus, there are some great workouts out there.

As I've had some time off recently I've been trying out lots of new workout DVDs. I still like Jillian Michaels 30 day shred because of the time:energy ratio - only about 25 minutes and you get a great workout. However, because I have all day to myself, I've been working out longer and harder (and I think I actually am starting to notice a result - amazing!) Here's my latest favorites:

The Firm: 500 Calorie Workout

The first time I did this workout I didn't like it because it was hard to follow - you probably need to try it at least twice, because I really like it now that I know what I'm doing. It's fast paced and there are a lot of combo moves. There are 5 strength and 5 cardio sets, each about 5 minutes long. Cardio includes step, kickboxing, and plyometrics. Strength is good all around but lots of lunges and squats - this one hurts my hamstrings if I'm not careful! This is about an hour total.

Amy Bento: Kickbox Xtreme

This seriously is extreme! The first time I did the workout I didn't realize that there were options (on the DVD menu) to change the length of the workout (about 5 options ranging from 30 minutes and up). This workout totals almost EIGHTY MINUTES LONG if you go all the way through. It's all cardio and uses no weights. The instructor is not the best at cueing (partly because everything is so fast paced) so you need to watch this one more than once to get the full benefit too. It's a great workout though and will definitely get your heart rate up.

Women's Health: Ultimate Fat Burn

2 cardio and 2 strength segments, the instructor is very encouraging (almost too much) and I do work up a sweat. This one is only around 30 minutes and intermediate intensity. There is a little "bonus" on the DVD that talks a bit about the background of all the instructors which was actually more interesting than I would have thought - after watching it I felt like I knew who I was exercising with!

Trainer's Edge: Killer abs and back

This one is good for an ab workout and the instructor wears an eye patch! My abs were a bit sore the next day so that was a good deal too. It's about 40 minutes, the first half is mostly cardio with a focus on abdominal movements and the second half is on the floor. He uses very light weights, a body bar, and a jump rope but I dont use any of these things and do just fine. :)

So, I've been exercising pretty good intensity since I stopped working two weeks ago. I hope to keep it up so once intern year rolls around it can all turn into flab. ;) Just kidding, sort of.

Also, on a non-exercise note: If you haven't ever seen "Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long," I recommend it (particularly after a drink or two). Quite funny.

Moving

I stole a few boxes from behind the liquor store this weekend.

I began packing today.

Holy Cow, we have a lot of stuff.

may is flying by!

I've been doing my best to keep myself as busy as possible lately, even without anything that I "have" to do. It's an awesome life, I've gotta admit! :)

• The house business is going quite smoothly. The inspector came and said the only major thing is it needs a new roof. Thankfully, living in Hailstorm City has blessed us with hail damage (which most insurance covers). The current owners are getting us a new roof very soon - awesome! We will (finally) close June 1...I can't wait! I just want to start packing and move all our stuff already! I need to find a BUNCH of big boxes, too.
• We've been obsessively watching HGTV to figure out how to decorate this "house." That sort of thing stresses me out, so we may just have a bunch of rooms with boxes for a while.
• I've been dying to make some food lately as I have been hanging out with my mama all week (she's off work too) and haven't cooked a darn thing. Usually I just read a bunch of recipes until I'm inspired to make something, but unfortunately I have not found anything to spark my interest. I did, however, make one delicious dish and one not-so-delicious dish today:

Delicious (and easy, and HEALTHY) guac!

2 avocados

1 can Ro-Tel Mexican Lime and Cilantro diced tomatoes

1 (or less) can navy beans

Blend the navy beans in a food processor with juice from tomatoes. Smash in both avocados. Add the tomatoes. Eat - on chips, pretzels, or a spoon.

The beans are an awesome addition because they add lots of fiber and protein, have no fat, and they're so mild you can hardly taste them. The Ro-tel is awesome because it has all your flavor in it and you don't have to do any work!

Just in case you wondered what they look like ;)

Not delicious quinoa dish

Leftover navy bean mash

regular tomatoes

quinoa

salt/pepper

lime juice

you know what, nevermind. I'm not even going to to tell you the rest...blech! Maybe adding navy beans to guacamole is a good idea, but not to quinoa. Have you ever used quinoa? (pronounced Keen-wa I think)...it's sort of a chewy nutty rice...I guess. I got a box to try recently since it's supposed to be one of the healthiest grains or something....Anyway, on to something else!

• So, I'm trying to think up something else delicious to make (preferably bake) since this weekend is Mother's day (a big family get-together at our place) and a family friend is graduating from...audiology or something. She's getting her doctorate which is pretty awesome! Here's a few ideas of what to make

Mint Julep Cupcakes

Mixed-Berry Chiffon Cake with Almond Cream Cheese Frosting (that's a mouthful!)

Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cake

or maybe something else entirely. Or nothing at all!

• Gregory, my youngest brother, is graduating from high school this year and has decided to go away to college...in Oklahoma. We're all a little sad he wants to leave us but he wants to get a fresh start. He figured out how to get in-state tuition by pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering. My brother, the rocket scientist.

• Oh yes....and the most important of all.....

are you ready?!

We are getting a puppy!!!

HOORAY!

Isn't she adorable?! I met her yesterday, she is about 4 weeks old and we can get her the weekend of May 22. I'm so excited! She can just barely walk around :) I thought I was just going yesterday to look at the pups, but...well...you can see what happened. I fell in love.

We're deciding on names. I think right now our top ones are Lucy and Bailey. We have a list of maybe 10 names though, so maybe it will end up something else entirely! Awwww...

I probably should get to cleaning, packing, and getting ready for our new little addition! She won't be little for long :) I can't wait!