Winter Nail Care

My skin isn't the only thing that is super dry during winter; my nails also need help!  I've found that using this cuticle cream really keeps my cuticles from being atrociously dry.  I rub it into my cuticles when I get into bed, or whenever I think about it during the day.  It's lemon-scented and nourishes brittle nails, too.

My other favorite nail-care product is this vitamin E nail oil.  It also softens cuticles, but massaging the oil into your nails stimulates new nail growth.  After years of being a nail-biter, my nails just don't seem to want to grow very fast, so I really need this!

What do you use to keep your nails healthy? 

Bacon-Cheese Quiche

When I need a quick and easy dinner, I'm finding that I often turn to quiche.  On Wednesday nights we attend a small group with our church, and there's just not enough time for me to cook a complex meal before we leave.  This was the most recent quiche I made, and it was simple and delicious - like most quiches are.

Bacon-Cheese Quiche

1 homemade or store-bought single-crust pie dough

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

coarse salt and ground pepper

6 eggs

3/4 cup heavy cream

8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Place dough in a 9-inch pie plate, fold overhang under, and crimp edge.  Place a sheet of parchment paper over dough and fill with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake until edge is dry and light golden, about 20 minutes.  Remove parchment and weights.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-heat high.  Add onion and green pepper, cooking until tender, 8-10 minutes.  In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and cream.  Add onion, green pepper, bacon, and cheese, and season with salt and pepper.  Whisk to combine.  Pour into crust and bake at 375 until center of quiche is just set, 35-45 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  (To store, refrigerate cooled quiche, tightly covered, up to 3 days.)

source: recipe adapted from Everyday Food, December 2011

Red Velvet Valentine Desserts

One of my favorite kinds of dessert is anything red velvet.  Valentine's Day is a perfect excuse to consume a little extra red velvet than normal, so here are some recipes for anything and everything red velvet.

Red Velvet Hot Cocoa

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cakeballs

Red Velvet Brownies

And if you don't feel like spending any time in the kitchen, there's always Ben & Jerry's to save the day!

Ben & Jerry's Red Velvet Cake

The Weekend

How was your weekend?  We had a great weekend!  Friday night my sister and her family came for a quick visit, so Friday night and Saturday morning was spent reading lots of books to the girls and watching Finding Nemo.  We love every chance we get to spend with them!  Saturday afternoon was kind of rainy so we did some shopping and then my kind husband worked on our taxes while I got to lay and on the couch and read :)  For the Superbowl went to a friend's house, where all of the guys watched the game while the women ate, talked, and played games in another room.  I did want the Patriots to win, but since I didn't watch even five minutes of the game I don't feel like I'm really allowed to have an opinion :)

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How was your weekend?  What did you do for the Superbowl?

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?