What is that sound? Is it music?! Ha.

So yes there is my corny title for my corny plug of my upcoming adventure...The Sound of Music.  Some of you may know and some may not, but either way it is official I was cast as Maria in this amazing musical.  It has been a huge favorite of the Ferguson household as long as I can remember (my mama watches it every year on Christmas day), as well as at the Snowden home.  The production will run the last two weekends in May at the historical Holly Theatre in downtown Dahlonega, Ga.  The local and regional talent that participates in the theater company here is pretty awesome.  I hope I can live up to expectations and do Maria (ie Julie Andrews of which I consider perfection) justice.  Now just to master a British accent..... should be interesting!!

A few recipes we are liking...

Warning: Some are Whole30 compliant, Paleo compliant, or kind of Paleo-like, but ALL are awesome!!

Fruit Smoothie

4-5 strawberries sliced

1 banana

1/3 cup fresh cut pineapple

1/4 cup blueberries

5-7 blackberries

1/2 cup crushed ice

1/2 cup almond milk or water or coconut milk

**make sure coconut or almond milk is unsweetened**

**optional: 2 scoops protein powder (no soy or whey though)

Mix with hand blender or standard blender and presto! Awesome and incredibly filling!

Guacamole 

(From http://whole9life.com/2010/01/mexi-­‐salad/)     

Ingredients:

4 fresh avocado, pitted and mashed

1-2 garlic cloves, pressed

2 limes, squeezed for juice 

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 rsp chili powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

A dash of black pepper for taste

Fresh cilantro, chopped for taste

**we added a tablespoon cilantro and 1 fresh tomato, diced**

Directions:

Mash the avocado in a glass or ceramic bowl to the desired consistency. (DO NOT USE A METAL MIXING BOWL OR SPOON.  The acid in lime juice is reactive to metal.)  To prevent browning of the avocado immediately pour in the lime juice.  Use a wooden spoon to mix in the other ingredients.  Serve with veggies, on a salad, with fish, etc..

     

Squash Chili  

(From Cooking for Health and Performance, Vol. 1)     

 Time: 15 minutes prep, approx 2 hr cooking, serves 2-­4     

 Ingredients:     

1  lb  ground  beef,  turkey  or  chicken   

1  Tbsp cooking fat (Olive Oil/Coconut Oil/etc...) of your choice   

1 cup diced acorn squash   

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms  

1/2 cup chopped onion   

1 clove chopped  garlic   

 1 Tbsp chili powder   

1/4 tsp cumin 

   Directions:  

 In a medium to large pot, brown the meat in the cooking fat.  Break the meat up as you stir.   Add all of the remaining ingredients and stir well.  Reduce the heat, and simmer for two hours or more.  

Continue to stir periodically.  You may need to add water occasionally as the chili simmers, but keep in mind that you want it to be somewhat thick.  This is a great recipe to double or quadruple and have a batch of leftovers on hand. 

Yummy Chocolate Chewy Cookies

I have taken a favorite cookie recipe of mine and removed gluten, dairy, and reduced the sugar while adding a few new ingredients...SO GOOD!)

Ingredients:

1&1/3 cups almond flour

2 cups Splenda/sugar blend

1 egg with yolk

2 egg whites

1 Tbsp almond butter

4 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce (or 2 Tbsp applesauce & 2 tsp olive oil)

3/4 cup coconut oil, softened

3/4 cup cocoa

1tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

**optional 1 cup finely chopped nuts**

Directions:

Combine butter, oils, applesauce, & Splenda/sugar blend together and cream with mixer.  Add eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.  Blend well.  Fold in pepper, baking soda, salt, and cocoa to the batter & mix well.  Stir in nuts if using.  Drop teaspoon size amounts of batter on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 7-9 minutes at 350 degrees.  Cool for only one minute on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack, paper towel, or wax paper to cool completely. 

DO NOT OVER COOK.  COOKIES NEED TO BE CHEWY!

The Whole 30...

As the new year approached in December I knew I needed to make some changes to my lifestyle.  I grew up being active and eating well, but like most people became a "less-than-perfect" example of healthy living in college and after...Ha-to say the least!  I have gone through all stages of the fitness cycle from eating healthy/feeling healthy/working out all the way to the opposite end of being stagnant/feeling stressed or overwhelmed constantly/eating horrible/or even barely eating.  (To clarify: when I am worried or sad it is almost impossible for me to eat. Hence me losing so much weight when Joey was deployed.  I also kept myself WAY TOO BUSY and literally forgot about food or sleep sometimes...NOT HEALTHY!!)  

So upon moving back from Italy in April, I literally gained about 12 lbs instantly from May to November...umm not cool!!  (By no means would I consider myself to have become fat or even chubby.  I am a tall woman with incredibly good genes thanks to my mom and dad, but I was not fitting into the clothes I love, feeling healthy, and started feeling incredibly insecure about my body.  Feeling insecure is something I do not tolerate and view to be very unattractive, so POOF it was the final straw for me.)  I really had not changed the amount of food I was eating at all, but of course in Italy we lived downtown walking everywhere and eating food at a leisurely pace which was made fresh everyday from whole, unprocessed ingredients.  I have now become a firm believer that being able to know ALL the ingredients in my food as well as enjoying the food and not rushing makes all the difference in the world!!  

Needless to say when I went to the doctor for a check-up in November he suggested I try the "Whole30."  I was not familiar with the Whole30 but with his brief description it sounded a lot like The Paleo Solution.  To be clear it is NOT the same thing as eating Paleo.  (you are compliant to paleo when on the Whole30, but if you are eating paleo it does not mean you are being 100% compliant with the Whole30)  To find out the guidelines go to www.whole9life.com, and click on the newest version of the plan which is Whole30 Version 5.0.   Low and behold Joey and I decided (begrudgingly) to try the Whole30 for the month of January.  I will not even pretend we were 100% perfect, but I will say we did a DANG good job at following the model of making gluten/dairy/no sugar choices.  

  In January I had started a class at my gym called STREND (strength & endurance...it is based on CrossFit.  Our instructor is certified but since she is not at the "CrossFit" gym anymore with every single piece of equipment required to claim the name she just calls it STREND.  The plus is it is just for women, which is a great way for you to get acclimated to the workouts you are unfamiliar with before/or if you decide to join a true CrossFit Gym.)  Joey has been doing CrossFit for several years and joined the gym in Dahlonega in the summer.  By changing our eating habits we both experienced great results.  We have gained more energy, lost weight, performed more productive workouts, and after the 30 days ended we are still making good decisions with food.  It is a strict 30 days, but after it is over you can add things back into your diet as long as you do it slowly to see how it effects your body.  So we do eat "Paleo" now about 85% of the time...but I will never give up my wine and champagne so forget about it!

DISCLAIMER:  It really bugs me when people only talk about what they eat and their "totally awesome" workouts, so I most likely will never ever bring this subject up again (although the next post will have some recipes we found that are awesome).  I just wanted people to know about the Whole30 and how it teaches you to be aware of what you put in your body and how you can actually see and feel the results when you learn what you can and can not tolerate!

A busy holiday season...

Welcome back to the blogging world, me!  I feel like every time I add a few posts I end up going on a month or two hiatus.  I am really gonna try though to be better now.  Since I last updated Thanksgiving,the Ranger Ball, Christmas, and New Years have all come and gone.  We are now in 2012....crazy!!  I have decided to recap things quickly and with some pictures.

Wyatt at Thanksgiving :)  We were not there, but Katy sent me
this precious picture!!

Thanksgiving was very low key for Joey and I because we stayed home in Dahlonega.  He was on the schedule for work, so we went to the house of some friends and ate with their wonderful family and another couple.  We were so appreciative to be welcomed into their home and celebrate the holiday with them.  From Thanksgiving until New Year's things were non-stop at this household.  The following weekends Joey and I were in Birmingham for my dad's company Christmas party; in Helen, Ga for the 5th Ranger Battalion Ball at Unicoi State Park; in Birmingham again for a week split between both of our families; and then in Charleston, SC to ring in the New Year with one of my best friend's and her husband. It was a lot of miles but with so many awesome memories!!  I hope everyone else's holiday season was as awesome as ours.

Our Christmas decorations in our den :)

At Ross Bridge Conference Center, Spa, & Resort for my dad's company Christmas party.

At the 5th Battalion Ranger Ball in Helen, Ga with Dani and Tiffany.

Wyatt "opening" up his first stocking with BeeBee!!

That is one proud uncle!

Looking rough in the morning right before we all had to leave :(  I miss them!

Christmas at the Ferguson house was held 12/21-12/24.  We had three nights with my parents, brother, Katy, Brad, and Wyatt.  It was awesome to be around for Wyatt's first Christmas...next year I am sure will be a lot more exciting for him though!

My niece, Olivia, and I at the Christmas Eve candlelight service at Shades Mountain Baptist.  Christmas Eve started our stay at the Snowden's house for three nights also.  (this picture is the only one I have.sad.)

Below are our pictures from hanging out with Brad & Ashleigh in Charleston for New Year's weekend!

New Year's Eve with my bestie!

Eating brunch @ The Landing on New Year's Day.

Beautiful Charleston!

The Hunger Games? Most Definitely!!

Have you read any new books lately? No, Yes, don't really read often??  Well you need to go out right now and buy the Hunger Games Trilogy or order it on Kindle/Nook or whatever it is the way you read books.  These books are amazing!  Do not get me wrong, they are no Catcher and the Rye or Wuthering Heights, but they are an intense and solid read.

 If you know me, you know I read A LOT!  I come from a family that appreciates a good book (or hundreds of them), so I really do not recommend novels unless I truly enjoy them or find something worthwhile in the message.  My plug for these 3 books is the following: adventuresome, intense, filled with description, takes a closer look at the human condition and human beings' need for survival, captivating, thought & emotion provoking, and full of parallels to today's society which is filled with such unrest.

If you are expecting something which is challenging these books are not your books.  They are easy to read and for all purposes intended for a young adult audience.  However, they are not ridiculously filled with teen angst or trivial drama.  I believe the reason the books appeal to people of an older generation is due to the way the trilogy's themes are not limited to one age group.  So go read them!!!

A favorite Christmas Gift...

My sweet hubs decided to get me an Erin Condren planner for Christmas. And I was ecstatic!! I had seen them on one of my sister's best friend's blog. Ellen (www.Ellenclarke.blogspot.com) had posted the site for these planners a few months back, and I fell in love! I ended up buying one for my sister as well because if you know us...we love to be organized and write things down. Joey surprised me with a collage of special pictures for the cover of mine as I did for Katy. Now I can keep everything super organized and neat!





Below is a really fuzzy pic of the cover I made for my sister. She and Brad just welcomed my first, only, and most perfect nephew into the world in November. That being said I knew a planner for the new mommy where she could see pics of the little man all the time would be perfect! I'm pretty sure she loves it!


If you have never checked out the site for Erin Condren you do not know what you are missing!

-Kristin-

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wyatt Harrison Godfrey

My nephew is here!!  Wyatt Harrison Godfrey was born on November 15, 2011 at 11:28am.  He was 20" long and weighed 7lbs 7oz.  He is perfect!!

I am beyond excited for my sister, Brad, and both of our families!  Praise the Lord for this tiny miracle!!