Fried Beer....You know you wanna read about it....

I'm going to start this post with a warning...what you are about to witness is one extremly rare day for Mike and I to have. If weird combinations of food, dipped in batter, and fried to a golden crisp gross you out, you might not want to continue reading. However, if you are intrigued by what the Famous Texas State Fair had to offer this year...you are in the right place!

Mike and I decided to go to the fair on a perfect Thursday afternoon. It was a little overcast, 82 degrees, and kids were in school; all make for perfect Fair conditions. We woke up early and got in a 6.5 mile run to prepare for the overhaul of calories soon to come. Once we got home, cleaned up, and took some TUMS (smart choice) we were off!

This post is mainly pictures so be prepared...

Entrance to the fair, with an odd looking homeless man on my left. The Texas State Fair is a long standing tradition in every Texans heart that began October 25, 1886.

**This was where they also gave out free "5-hour energy" shots. Guess they were trying to clue us into something.

Mike playing in one of the football simulation stations. He's so cute.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, that says fried butter....I couldn't do it though. I am willing to try a lot of things, but Fat covered in Fat fried in more Fat...just too much.

Every single one of these things sounded bomb-tastic to me, however, by the time we made it back around to this kiosk my body was begging me to stop.

Wait for it...

Ahhhh that's good beer. This is without a doubt the weirdest thing. It was puff pastry with a pocket of liquid beer inside. It was good, my only reservation is I like COLD beer, and in order to fry it, the beer became room temp...moving on

OHHHH LAWDY..hehe Fried Biscuits and Gravy. Imagine how a jelly doughnut gets filled and fried and then oozes sweet goodness into you mouth. Now imagine a biscuit, filled with gravy, dipped in batter and fried. Some of you might be gagging, but it was damn good. I was surprised by this little devil.

Setting up for College Game Day 

I would love to see Erin Andrews down some fried butter...

Well hello there Big Tex!

This will be my new truck when the fair is over and they discover that I have guessed the right amount of mini footballs stuffed inside. I entered a guess on a Blue Truck as well...guess I'll have a 'weekend ride' too :)

Of course there's a Cowboys Attraction! Duh

My favorite! Witten the Kitten!

I wanted to win this for Kimmi, but I ran out of tickets and it was a dumb game anyways.

First ride Mike and I went on. Oh My Gato was it fun! I was laughing so hard, I think Mike was laughing at me.

All made out of Beer bottle caps! So nifty!

Alright Alright...back to the fried goodness...Fried Cookie Dough. Yes, there is such a thing and it should be mass produced to give to anyone who is ever sad again. This was my FAVORITE thing by far. I will dream about you till next year...

Trying not to laugh and get powdered sugar up my nose.

Of course the Cotton Bowl. Oh yeah, the Texas Fair is sooooo big, it has a football stadium inside it. Can't wait for Red River Rivalry on Saturday. Hook em Horns! OU smells :)

Ahhhhhh Football Glory

Okay so let me explain...

This was the 2011 Fair Grand Prize Winner for best tasting dish. It is a buffalo chicken breast, wrapped in a pancake, dipped in batter, rolled in breadcrumbs and jalepeno crumbs and fried. If that's not enough to stop your heart, they give you a side of maple syrup to dip it in. I hate to admit this was good but it was. It was pretty damn awesome. I'm a little ashamed. Oh and we ate this with frozen Arnold Palmers. They were good, but uber sweet.

Lastly, and probably least was Fried Coke. Didn't do it for me....it was essentially cake donuts, with fizzy coke poured over it and whipped cream and a straw. It got too soggy, too fast. The fresh ones were best.

****Mind everyone, Mike and I shared every dish. Doesn't make this any better, but at least it doesn't make it worse :)

And yes sir, that is all she wrote...Mike and I literally got home and I was sick for about two hours. But you know what? I enjoyed every second of my day with Mike at the Fair. It was so much fun and made for such great memories. I'm so lucky to have someone to eat weird fried food with all day long, get sick, and then dive into a food coma with. 

Oh, hello dry chicken, brown rice, and asparagus. What's that you say? I'll be eating you for the next month? DEAL! I don't want to eat another deep fried piece of food until next year's fair. I think I have a hangover from food.  

Learning Turbo; Warmup and Punches

So as most of you know, I just recently took my TurboKick Certification class and had an absolute blast! I really want to start teaching it, but there are a lot of things I need to learn first. When I told my mom that I was finished with the class she asked,"So are you going to start teaching now?" and it kind of threw me for a loop. Believe me, if I had a photographic memory, and a musical/dance background I would waltz right into my audition and bust out some Turbo moves now, however, I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday, and you could describe my musical/dance background as being a fan of GLEE.

With all that being said, I have set out on my path to start learning this stuff so I can actually start teaching it without looking unprepared. TurboKick gets released in rounds, kind of like a BodyPump series. They are on round 49 now, I think, but I was taught on round 44, so why not stick with it? Each round has 11 components all synched to specific music. I have to learn counts a little better than I do now because it is all off a 32 count beat. Honestly, I didn't even know what that meant until taking this class, I always just counted how many reps we did of everything, but I am finding out that doesn't always work.

The first, and probably most important thing to do was learn the Warm-up. It's the same for all rounds, and is a nice stable constant for those who are avid TurboKick aficionados. I learned it pretty quickly but the problem I was facing was the music was lasting about a minute longer than all the moves. I'm not sure if that's normal or not, but I just figured that's water break time before the real stuff begins!

Next on the list is the punch sequence. TurboKick is based on layers. You start off with something basic and another something basic and add them together. Those are layers 1 and 2. Once it seems like more than half of the room has got it, show them another layer, do it for a 32 count, and add it to layers 1 and 2...Sounds super simple, however, I hate to admit this, but I am a very rigid learner. I like things to be one certain way and by the books. I like cues and things to know if I am doing something right or wrong. This may be super anal of me, but I am who I am...At least I will do something over and over till it is right.

 And I did, for about 3 hours...I didn't even realize how much time had passed! I did a couple more run throughs and called it a day. Tomorrow I will move onto some kicking sequences and let y'all know how they go. One thing I can definitely say, it is a lot harder to learn to teach it to people, than just go to a class and workout. I have to get better at talking and cuing before the move comes up, rather than as I am doing it, because that will be a lot more helpful. O well, all a learning process that I am enjoying.

I have some pretty exciting stuff coming up the next few months, but I don't want to say them because it might jinx it. But just pray things go right for me :)

An Update on My Life

Well howdy there!...fancy seeing y'all here. I realize I 've been the MIA one for a while now, but a lot of things have been going on since the move to The Big D. Some happy and exciting, and some very disappointing and sad. Even though I have come across a few hiccups in the road, I have a feeling they were meant to happen, and bigger and better things await me.

So let's address all the things I set out to do thus far. I have received a lot of inquiry about the interview with my "dream company" Lululemon, and even though I made it to the second round of interviews, they went with their other candidate instead. At first, I won't lie, I was heartbroken. It took me a couple of days to redirect my thoughts and emotions because it was/and still is a company and lifestyle I believe whole heartedly in. However, I understand and have no ill will towards the company or any of the girls who work there. They are wonderful, sweet, and very fun to work out with. Plus, I believe I am doing now,what I was supposed to be doing.

I currently am mentoring under and helping a wonderful trainer here in Dallas. I love her very much and she has taken me under her wing like and angel! Mike and I are both very blessed to have met her for everything she has taught us about Dallas, the fitness world here, and everything in between. 

Monkey is doing wondeful. We found him a very nice vet who absolutely loves kitties. Monkey still takes anxiety medications but I can definitely tell he has calmed down and seems happier here in Dallas.

Last weekend was my TurboKick workshop and I had an absolute blast! For those of you who don't know, or have never heard of it, TurboKick is a form of cardio-kickboxing, set to really fun music. I plan on learning all I can and auditioning soon to teach at gyms. Wish me luck, :)

Lastly, Mike is doing wonderful at his new job. He is almost done with his training and will soon be a full fledged manager. He is truly the most amazing boyfriend in the world. He looks great and has lost about 20 pounds since moving here, amazing right?!?! Also, I even ran into an old friend and fellow seminole a couple weeks ago. Small world, small world...Now only if the Noles would start pulling out some WINS. 

All in all, Dallas has been a wonderful life change so far. The weather has broken the 100 degree temps., and every once in a while we see a raindrop. The state fair starts this week and I can't wait to try 'Fried Margaritas'!!!

 Every once in a while I get really sad, it's hard starting over. But I have amazing support and I know it all passes eventually. This isn't my first move, and I'm sure won't be my last. I just keep telling myself everything falls into place eventually and come what may, I can take it. So if anyone wants to come visit, open invitation!!!! Oh, and I almost forgot...I got those Sally Hansen nail lacquer strips yesterday and now my nails are CHEETAH! meow :)

Yummy NEW Dinner Idea!!!

As you can tell from the new abundance of posts I have been able to commit to, life without a job is a lonely and dull one at that. I know one will come eventually, hopefully my dream job that I have been anxiously awaiting, but in the meantime, I've been racking my brain for some new, creative dinner ideas.  I want Mike to come home to something warm from the oven, (or at least be able to reheat in the toaster oven :).

My new favorite thing right now, are the Sweet Potato Puffs from the Alexia Frozen Food line. They are absolutely awesome! Just like real tater tots but better because they are SWEET POTATO, and you can bake them right from the freezer in only 15 minutes. Crunchy, sweet, slightly salty...okay I'll stop writing a TV advertisement for them and just explain the recipe I came up with.

Sometimes they are hard to find, but keep looking...they are out there.

When Mike and I first starting scoping out the grocery stores in Dallas, we had a very hard time finding a place that carried the sweet puffs, but luckily, (phew) we found some.

My first thought was to make some sort of casserole, incorporating veggies and the rotisserie chicken I recently bought. However, I was also in the mood for some sort of eggy frittata, so why not incorporate both? 

All the ingredients for this awesome dish, plus my gummy vita-bears in the background.

Sweet Potato Puff Casserole

• 9x9 non stick pan
• 30-35 Alexia Sweet Potato Puffs (slice them in half while frozen)
• 1 1/2 cups Egg Whites 
• 1 Plain Chobani Greek yogurt
• 4 slices Oscar Meyer Turkey Bacon (nuke it for 3 minutes to crisp up)
• Handful of Matchstick Carrots (just throw em in there, can't hurt and they are veggies :)
• 1/4 cup skim shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• However much Rotisserie Chicken you want to eat

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Grab a medium bowl, combine egg whites, and Chobani and whisk together till frothy. Add the carrots, chicken, and any blend of seasonings you want. Tonight I used dried mustard, cumin, seasoning salt, chili powder, and ginger. About a teaspoon of each, give or take. Pour egg mixture into pan, sprinkle cheese on top of the egg mixture. Crumble turkey bacon to you liking and arrange on top of cheese. Lay the Puff halves with the flat side down until you cover the entire dish and spray the top with a couple mists of olive oil spray. Pop in the over for about 35-40 min and enjoy!!!

Holy YUUUMM!

I was super stoked it came out, and tasted great!

I know I'm happy!

So is Monkey because he snuck a piece of chicken when I wasn't looking :( rotten kitty. Now I'm off to catch up on some intellectually, thought provoking, reality TV that is BRAVO! Oh, and you know I have some fro-yo waiting for me later :)

I will learn this dance and it will be awesome...

I already do my own version in my car, but it mainly involves flailing my arms around like an insane person. That's okay though, this by far is my favorite song to work out to right now. GOAL: find lots of willing people in Dallas, learn this dance, perform huge flash mob at mall... :) Off to "Shake that"

Texas Love

Well, we have done it. Mike and I have successfully moved ourselves, our lives, and our kitty Monkey from Tallahassee, Florida, all the way to the wonderful Dallas, Texas...Farmer's Branch that is! Monkey has taken to the move especially well, could be from all the Prozac we have him on, but I like to think on the optimistic side and say it's him liking his new change of scenery and state instead.

Super Kitty!!!! Checking out the poolside crowd.

Since we have been here, I feel like a whirlwind of things have happened. Mike has started his new job, which he loves; we have taken in a Ranger Baseball game, (since the last time we were supposed to go, I got sick and wound up in the hospital instead); and we have found ourselves a gym, ladies and gentlemen!!! 

Rangers VS Marlins (I'm going to lie and say the Rangers won, makes me happier :)

So far, finding a suitable gym for Mike and I to work out at, had been our biggest obstacle to overcome. Dallas has many Mega gyms such as Bally's, 24 Hour Fitness's, and Gold's; however, that's not what we are into. Creativity is the key people!!! We thought we had stumbled upon a great little find within the first week, but when we saw the monthly fee was not including any of the group classes we were going to want and take, we nixed it. If I am going to join a gym, group classes are half the reason I want to join in the first place, you meet the best people there. 

After a full week of sweating our butts off in the Dallas heat, (which is unlike any heat you have felt before, even living in Florida) we were getting a little tired of our outside multiple mile runs. Luckily, I had seen an Equinox Gym from the road one day, when we were driving to Mike's work and have heard nothing but wonderful things about this gym in the past. I begged Mike to consider trying this place out. 

The next day, we showed up and were given a wonderful tour of the awesome facilities, and types of classes they offered. Within an hour, both of us signed up and were eager to start training with this thing called a Viper. It is a hollow tube that weighs a good amount, and has handles to do all sorts of shifts, pushes, pulls, and exercises with. Our first class we took with it was great and super intense. 

So far, I have nothing but great things to say about Equinox. Nice people, clean facility, and interesting classes that challenge all fitness levels. I even met a wonderful trainer Kim, who I instantly clicked with, and we have become fast friends. She is an ambassador for my favorite company Lululemon Athletica, and you can definitely tell from her go hard, rock out, awesome personality why. She represents the lifestyle well!

Me, Uti, and Kim!! After an awesome Cardio Explosion class. 

Dallas has been wonderful and exciting, full of new adventures and decisions to be made every day. It is weird to think I have started what is, "the rest of my life," but I am taking everything day by day, piece by piece, and I know things are meant to happen for a reason, like opting for a Tread & Shed class, rather than a Barre Burn class the other day so I could meet Kim :) I'm just here to enjoy the ride...

I just don't understand the "Extreme Couponing" thing.

While at a, fabulously sweaty, Ali Campbell, workout session today, an interesting topic arose. We got to talking about eating healthy and trying to 'live the lifestyle', when Ali, our trainer, said she has a problem sometimes with companies trying to get her to endorse their shakes, or supplements, or whatever, because of how she looks (She looks incredible, and I can see why companies would flock to her). She said she always declines because the best advice she can give her clients, when looking for ways to be healthier, is to eat whole, unprocessed foods. I loved that she said this because Mike and I had just had this discussion and I totally agree, 100%!

Mike and I try as hard as possible to stick to the rule, "If it can't go bad, we don't buy it." We mainly stick to the outside perimeters of the grocery stores because that is where you find the foods that will do the most beneficial things for your body. There are some exceptions to this, yes, but mainly the produce section, meats, and eggs win my vote. Sometimes I meander down the chocolate isle, but shhhhh. The downside to this may be a bigger dent in the wallet, however, the bigger picture is worth the extra dollars. This is where my problem with the whole "Extreme Couponing"thing comes into play.

I was channel surfing the other night, and happening to come across TLC's show, Extreme Couponing. It details the lives of these people who make it their mission to not buy one thing in the grocery store at full price. They have coupons for everything! They build these 'stock piles' in their homes that look like they could survive the coming of WWIII, but no matter how much stuff they get, it is never enough. The amazing part comes when they take a bill that would originally cost upwards of $2000, and pay only $6. This may be amazing, which I will admit, shocked me at first, but then you take a second look at what they bought, and understand why only women who are severely overweight and don't work, seemed to be featured. 90% of their haul is boxed, processed foods that your body doesn't know how to breakdown. I think the show could be called "Yakisoba Promotional Ad," with the amount of those boxed noodles they buy.

Crap, crap, crap, toothpaste (86 tubes), and more crap. What makes me sad is their pride in what they have managed to buy, and wanting to pass this skill down to their children, breeding more bad eating for the future. Yes, you are saving money, but nothing will pay for the rebuilding of your child's self esteem when they end up 200 pounds overweight because of their bad eating habits. It is not all bad, though, and those who do it to donate to local shelters, and military, I commend you on such a selfless act. As for most of it though, I cringe when I see 8 flats of Coke being wheeled out of the store to be enjoyed by naive kids. I would rather spend a little more money on whole, fresh, unprocessed, foods that my body will thank me for into old age, hopefully. It also gives Mike and I a reason not to spend money eating out so much, because all of our food will spoil eventually and I wanna enjoy it while it's fresh!

Onto tonights meal adventure. Mike had to work, so I got a little creative in our, mostly packed up, kitchen. I rarely eat pasta, but when I saw these bad boys in 'Earthfare' the other day, I had to get them. Plus, their nutritional stats were acceptable, and the ingredient list had actual food listed.

These raviolis were in the frozen section, and they had many different varieties, but these sounded wonderful. Before I tell you what I mixed them with, I'll let you know that Mike and my favorite 'Tomato Sauce' is the simplest thing to make, along with being super healthy. We normally just grab a can of crushed San Marzano tomatoes (must be San Marzano, they taste the best!), chop up some fresh basil to add, mix in some minced garlic, and then add a little salt and pepper to taste, and voila! Super yummy, tomato sauce. We normally store it in an air-tight container in the fridge and use it for everything, from pizza sauces, to a makeshift sauce for my little raviolis. 

Laughing Cow cheese wedges kick bootay!

Once the little raviolis were cooked, I just threw in some shredded rotisserie chicken (another must have in my fridge),our famously un-famous tomato sauce, a laughing cow cheese wedge (only 35 calories, and they melt perfectly into the sauce) and a splash of Unsweetened Almond Breeze, and you have a perfectly tasty, makeshift creamy tomato sauce! 

Served with Asparagus, of course.

It tasted wonderful! I recommend these little raviolis to anyone in need of a quick dinner, they only take 8 minutes! Add some extra protein to amp the nutritional value and it made for a great dinner!

 Mike and my last rule, that we try and stick to is, "If you eat healthy and whole 90% of the time, and haven't drank your calories, the last 10% can be whatever you want....within reason of course." 

Earthfare has the BEST carrot cake!!!

Don't worry, my "within reason" is only a 1/3 of this slice of cake....maybe 1/2, I kicked butt at the gym today :) I'm off to watch some terribly desperate mothers exploit their little girls on Toddlers and Tiaras! It's kind of like a crash you can't take your eyes off of, you don't want to watch...but you have to! Goodnight!