February: Remember Love

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The February chapter in The Happiness Project is all about marriage and loving well.  Basically the overall goal is to be a better wife, which is quite impossible to achieve in one month since it's something I'll be working at every day, all day, for the rest of my life.  Needless to say, I've had a hard time coming up with measurable goals for this month. Loving Caleb better means I need to be less selfish, more considerate, less demanding, more understanding, more patient, etc.  I don't think putting all of these things in a big list and labeling it goals would be very helpful; I already know I need to work on them.  Instead I've thought of a just a couple of practical things to do to keep me focused on being a better wife to Caleb. 

1. Read The Excellent Wife.  My sister recommended this book to me a while ago and it's been sitting on my bookshelf ever since.  I'm going to set aside time each day to go through the book, really thinking about the areas that I need to work on in order to be a better wife to Caleb.

2. Frame and hang our wedding vows.  I intended to do this right after we got married, but have never done it. We wrote our own vows, and I think hanging them up where we see them all the time is a great way to be reminded of what we promised each other.

How do you work on loving your significant other better?

Superbowl Party Food

When it comes to the Superbowl, the only thing I really care about is the food.  In case you're still deciding on what you should make for your Superbowl party this weekend, I've gathered some of my favorite foods for a party or a large group. 

Chili & Cornbread

White Chicken Chili

Crockpot Pulled Pork

Parmesan Garlic Knots

Guacamole

Piña Colada Fruit Dip

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Zucchini Nut Bread Cookie Sandwiches

M&M Pretzel Treats

January: What Boosted My Energy

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I'm blogging about my monthly goals to help keep me accountable, so it's time to look at the goals I had for January!

As far as boosting my physical energy:
Decrease caffeine:  this was a struggle at first, but I only had coffee twice in January and I think my body has adjusted.  I love feeling energetic knowing it's not coming from my morning cup of coffee!  I think this one wins as far as what has boosted my physical energy the most.  I was pretty dependent on lots of caffeine.

Eat breakfast:  this has definitely helped me get through the morning working more productively.  I've also found that I don't eat a huge lunch trying to make up for not eating breakfast.

Start strength training:  I haven't done that well with this one.  I bought a kettle bell and have done it some mornings, but I need to do it more consistently.  (side note: the people who live below us complained that we've been "consistently stomping and throwing things".  We don't stomp or throw things, so the only thing I can figure is they must have heard me doing my jumping jacks with the workout video - whoops!)

Take more walks:  it rained a lot this month, but I did make a bigger effort to get outside when it was nice and walk a little bit.  I did help me refocus and gave me a little energy burst.

Boosting my mental energy:
Make a list of nagging projects:  I had 8 things on my list and I've finished 5!  I can't even explain how wonderful it feels to cross these things off.  All 8 are things that I've been needing to do for a long time, and to finally be able to stop thinking about them and stop reminding myself to just do them feels amazing.  This was definitely the most rewarding goal of January!

Organize the pantry: done!  I found more expired food than I thought I had, and I can now see what's on all of the shelves.  It makes cooking dinner and making my grocery lists MUCH faster.

Tidy up before bed: this helps me get going on my day faster in the morning!  It's totally worth taking a few minutes at night to clean up the kitchen and put things away.

If something takes 5 minutes or less, do it now:  another super rewarding goal!  My email inbox has gotten down to ZERO!  Also our "dump zones" (kitchen counter and coffee table) have stayed cleared off because I'm dealing with mail, etc. right away instead of letting it pile up.

Get rid of unnecessary stuff:  I went through all of my stuff and found a lot to get rid of.  Some of it just needed to be thrown away, but clothes and shoes I'm donating to Goodwill.  Also, I found a bunch of unopened toiletries and cleaning products that are just extras, and these are great to donate to women's shelters.

I think focusing on energy and working towards these goals did make me feel happier.  I think this has more to do with the mental energy goals.  I'm not wasting time and energy thinking about the things I want to get done, but mostly I've eliminated many of the little things that were annoying me.

Have you made progress with your goals or resolutions for 2012?

Vanilla Ice Cream

My in-laws gave me an ice cream maker for Christmas, and I made ice cream for the first time a couple of weeks ago!  I was surprised at how easy it was, and this ice cream is some of the best vanilla ice cream I've had.  We made brownie sundaes with hot fudge sauce one weekend, and this past weekend we had deep dish chocolate chip cookies with ice cream on top. 

Vanilla Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk

a pinch of salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 cups heavy cream

5 large egg yolks

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk with a paring knife, then add the bean pod to the milk.  Cover, remove from heat, and infuse for one hour.

To make the ice cream, set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Set a strainer over the top of the smaller bowl and pour the heavy cream into the bowl.

In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks.  Rewarm the milk then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour.  Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

Strain the custard into the heavy cream.  Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly.  Preferably overnight.

Remove the vanilla bean and freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

source:  recipe from david lebovitz, adapted from The Perfect Scoop

*ETA:  I have had several questions about what type of ice cream maker I use.  I have the Kitchen Aid ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen aid stand mixer.  You can purchase it here.  I have been very happy with it and would recommend it!

Blueberry Muffins

Last weekend it rained--all weekend.  I ended up loving it because it was the most relaxing weekend we've had in a while.  To start things off, I woke up Saturday morning and made these muffins.  There's nothing like fresh blueberry muffins, still warm from the oven, for breakfast.  I'm sharing them today just in case you're hoping for the same kind of relaxing weekend that starts with a homemade muffin.

Happy Friday!

Blueberry Muffins
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 cups + 2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 egg + 2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
1 3/4 cups fresh blueberries
sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

With an electric mixer on medium-high, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add whole egg, yolks, and vanilla; mix until well combined.  Reduce speed to low; alternate adding reserved flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour.  Gently fold in berries.

Divide batter evenly among greased muffin pans; sprinkle generously with sanding sugar.  Bake at 375 degrees until light golden on top, rotating tin halfway through, about 20-30 minutes.  Cool in tin on wire rack 15 minutes before turning out muffins.  Store in airtight container.  Makes 12-18 muffins.

source:  recipe from Martha's Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations

Winter Skin Care Tip

One of the things I dislike about winter is how dry my skin gets!  Typically my skin texture is normal to dry, but in the winter it gets SO dry.  I've been using this overnight mask a couple of a times a week, and I love waking up to a soft, moisturized face!  It has avocado oil and Japanese seaweed in it and smells really fresh going on.  I just put it on my face before bed and it moisturizes through the night. 

What do you use to help get rid of dry winter skin?

Strawberry-Flax Smoothie

Let's talk about breakfast.  You already know I don't really like eating breakfast, but I'm trying to eat it more so I have energy throughout my day.  For a while I was eating fruit & yogurt parfaits and then I was eating handfuls of this granola and then I was just tired of being in a granola rut.  This morning I made this smoothie and it has 14g of protein!  Hello easy, fast breakfast that I can drink while I work!  

Strawberry-Flax Smoothie

1 cup frozen strawberries

3/4 cup low-fat yogurt

1/2 cup fresh orange juice (from one orange)

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp flaxseed meal

Mix all ingredients in a blender.  Blend until smooth and frothy.

source:  recipe from Real Simple, February 2011