CUPCAKES!

Just looking at these I get hungry....hmmmmm they were so good! Ok so I think I've become obsessed with cupcakes lately! I found this chocolate cupcake recipe and the buttercream recipe from a website I LOVE, http://www.bakerella.com/ (I've become obsessed with her website as well). I made all chocolate cupcakes and then two different frosting's a buttercream frosting in which I tinted with pink coloring and a chocolate cream cheese frosting in which I filled 1/4 of the cupcakes with and then frosted with either of the frosting's. I only filled some of the cupcakes because I thought it might be too much but apparently I was dead wrong! I took the to a BBQ and it seriously like looking for Willy Wonka's golden ticket! All the girls were lifting up the cupcakes comparing weights trying to find the filled ones and if they picked a regular cupcake they pond it off on their husband and picked a new one. It was hilarious. I of course didn't distinguished the filled ones with any certain frosting or decoration so it really was a game of chance. I loved it!!

24 chocolate cupcakes ready to be frosted

I borrowed my mom's cake decorating tips, I really want to start learning how to decorate cakes and cupcakes so here is my first lesson.

All ready to go get eaten in my new cupcake carrier from Target

Chocolate Cupcakes

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/4 c milk, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake pans with 36 baking cups. With a wire whisk, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and set aside. In a mixer, cream sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down sides with each addition. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture to the creamed butter in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. (flour, milk, flour, milk, flour) Bake for about 15 minutes or until done. Cool and frost.

Buttercream Frosting

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 lb powdered sugar (3 3/4 cups)
• 1-3 tsp milk, half and half, or cream

Using a mixer, cream softened butter and vanilla until smooth. Add sugar gradually, allowing butter and sugar to cream together before adding more. If you want your frosting a little more creamier, add a teaspoon of milk at a time and beat on high until you get the right texture. Then use icing colors to tint the frosting the color of your choice. This is usually just enough for a 2-layer cake, double the recipe for a 3-layer cake.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1- 8oz pkg cream cheese, room temp
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temp
• 4 cups sifted powdered sugar (decrease the amount of you don't care for it being stiff for piping
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Mix in powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix in cocoa powder.

These cupcakes where wonderful!! I recommend them. If you make them let me know what you think! I plan on making many more cupcakes and will be trying new kinds as well! Happy Baking :)

Focaccia Bread

I've been wanting to make bread for some time now and came across this recipe which sounded delicious. I also had all the ingredients so that helped also! It had a ton reviews which is one reason I picked it and I love focaccia bread, especially with herbs and cheese!!

All the dry ingredients The dough

It looks like a pizza but I swear it's just bread!

Doesn't it look yummy!

Focaccia Bread

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella

Directions In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Week 33 Workout Update Plus a Completed Goal

Can you guess what goal I've completed? Well since I'm so excited, I'll tell you....#56 Lose 10 more lbs. That's right I've lost my second 10 lb goal, which means since starting working out at the end of November I'm down 20 POUNDS! Where was all that lbs been hiding and where did that sneak up from?!?! WTF! I think having the flu and not being able to eat for 2 days might have helped. In celebration I took myself on a little shopping spree over the weekend. I told myself I was not allowed to buy any new clothes until I made this goal and I reached it just in time as it was a much needed therapy session :) Ideally I would like to lose another 10lbs and be able to maintain that. I'm feeling good at where I am and where I am getting and hope it continues, there's plenty more hard work ahead of me though!

• Monday - Off, Sick with the Flu
• Tuesday - Off
• Wednesday Elliptical 30 minutes; Abs- Russian twists & sit-ups on decline bench w/6lb medicine ball 3 sets 20, Reverse Crunches 3 sets of 20, Obliques 20lbs 3 sets of 20, Crunches 3 sets of 20; Upper Body Weights- Bench Press 10lbs 3 set of 10, Incline Fly 10lbs 3 set of 12, Laterals 5 lbs 3 sets of 12, Tricep Dips 3 sets of 15, Tricep Extensions 7.5lbs 3 sets of 12, Bicep Curls 10lbs 3 sets of 12; Stretching; Walk with dogs 30 minutes 1.6 miles.
• Thursday- Elliptical 30 minutes, 2.40 miles; Abs- Russian twists & sit-ups on decline bench w/6lb medicine ball 3 sets 20, Reverse Crunches 3 sets of 20, Obliques 20lbs 3 sets of 20, Crunches 3 sets of 20; Lower Body Weight: Walk out Lunges 10lbs weights 3 sets of 12, Squats 10lbs 3 sets of 12, Leg Extensions 40lbs 3 sets of 12, Glute Press 30lbs 3 sets of 12; Stretching
• Friday- Elliptical 35 minutes, 2.50 miles; Cycle 15 minutes, 2.70 miles
• Saturday - Off
• Sunday -Off

• Week 11 Weight-Loss: -2lbs
• Overall Challenge Weight-Loss: -11lbs

#18 Try Playing Golf (not mini golf) - In Progress

Today I was given my 1st (informal) golf lesson by my wonderful "professional" husband! We were going to go to the golf course right by our house but since it was so hot and humid out we opted to practice in the backyard. I've NEVER played golf a day in my life. The closest I've got is mini golf and that is obviously nothing like real golf so we are starting from the very beginning....with something called the "golf swing". Dave taught me the correct way to swing a golf club and how to hold it. Since we weren't at a golf course or have a big enough yard to try hitting a real golf ball, we used a dog toy, a rubber squeaking ball the size of a tennis ball. Hey, it did it's job! Then we practiced chipping and this time we did use real golf balls. I don't really get why there are so many clubs but I guess we'll get to that at my next lesson, as I was introduced to 3 clubs tonight. Next up, the driving range! This should be interesting :)

Week 32 Workout Update

So last weeks workouts I didn't keep very good track of. Okay, honestly I didn't remember to write anything down! I know I made it to the gym twice and one of those days I lifted my upper body and I took the dogs on a nice walk one day as well. But that's the extent of it. I was out of commision from the flu on Sunday and I swear that wiped my brain I can hardly think of what I did at the gym! Luckily we are all healthy again and back to normal which will be reflected on this weeks workout post.

• Monday - Off
• Tuesday - Off
• Wednesday - Off
• Thursday - Elliptical 30 minutes, Upper Body Workout, Abs
• Friday - Elliptical 30 minutes
• Saturday - Walk with dogs, 30 minutes 1.6 miles
• Sunday - Off - Sick with the Flu!!

Week 10 Weight-Loss: -1lbs Overall Weight-Loss Challenge Loss Wk 10: -9lbs

Can You Guess What This Is?

Yes it's an elephant but do you know what kind of statue this little guy is?

It's a Fertility Statue!

You may be asking....

Why do you have a Fertility Statue? Obvious reasons of course...

How did you acquire it? I was given it by a fellow girlfriend

The real question is "What is the story behind THIS fertility statue?

I was given this statue over the weekend by a friend. She sent me a text stating something like, "You're going to think I'm crazy but I have a statue for you. There's a story behind it and I'll explain later." My first thought was, a fertility statue? I had no clue she had one by the way, but this is one subject that is always on the mind or in the back of my mind. So she stopped over and dropped it off. She was given this statue by a co-worker of hers. A few years ago one of her co-workers had been trying to have a baby for quite some time with no luck. They went to fertility doctors and couldn't find any answers as to why they weren't getting pregnant on their own so they started receiving fertility treatments but even those hadn't worked. Now I'm not sure where she got it or how she came across it but one day the co-worker found this fertility statue and after only having it for a month, she got pregnant. Now this could be a coincidence or it may not. So she gave the statue to her sister who was trying to get pregnant. After the first month the sister had the elephant, she got pregnant as well. The sister later gave the statue to a friend who after the first month, can you guess....got pregnant! Do you see where this story is going? It recently came back to my friends co-worker who gave it to her because she had been trying for sometime. My friend informed me she received the statue mid-cycle which did not result in a pregnancy but the next cycle she had (her first full cycle) she did indeed get pregnant!!

Apparently this little statue has been in the hands of nearly a dozen women (no one has counted yet although I really think they should) who ALL have gotten pregnant within the first month of receiving THIS fertility statue and had healthy pregnancies!! Is this still a coincidence?!?! I'm not sure. Granted this little statue is indeed, little (approximately 3 inches high and 5 inches long) it appears it might just have a lot of power! So now it is in my hands. I'm skeptical. I'm definitely intrigued. I'm hopeful. But I'm also nervous. I mean almost a dozen women have so-called conceived the first full cycle they had this thing? That's some good odds but there's a little bit of pressure. I mean I'm not sure if I totally believe this thing works but what if I'm the first to break the streak? What if even with this added luck it still doesn't work? But it's just a silly statue, right? So I'm not taking it too serious. My friend didn't take it serious, however she passes it on in to me in hopes that if it does work, that it may help us. Hey, I'll try anything with a good track records! So here goes...........

Week 31 Workout Update

This has been a pretty pathetic week workout wise. Especially after gaining weight last week!! You would have thought I would have been more motivated to workout harder, or at least workout period! But for some reason it had quite the opposite effect on me, I felt no motivation at all. So when I went to go weight myself this morning to my surprise I lose weight! I not even lost what I had gained back last week but I lost more!! WTF?!?! Now I know my weight, like everyone else's, fluctuates through out the day and daily by a few pounds because of water weight and everything. But I must say, I'm getting very close to my second goal and #56 of my 101 List which is to lose another 10 lbs! So hopefully this will give me motivation for this week to get my butt back to the gym a few days. And since this last week was pitifully workout wise, I decided to take my measurements and add then to my update. No big drastic numbers but they do seem to slowly slimming down.

• Monday - Off
• Tuesday - Off
• Wednesday - Off
• Thursday - Elliptical 35 minutes
• Friday - Off
• Saturday - Walk with dogs, 20 minutes
• Sunday - Off

Week 9 Weight-Loss: -1lbs

Weight-Loss Challenge: -8lbs

Over Weight-Loss: - 15lbs

Measurements:

• Waist: -1 inch
• Hips: -2 1/4 inches
• Bust: -2 inches
• Arms: -3/4 inch, each
• Thighs: -2 inches, each

Breakfast

My delicious breakfast this morning. What more can you ask for...French Vanilla coffee and Chocolate Cherry Biscotti's!! Yum!

Chocolate Cherry Biscotti's

My second cherry recipe and it is delicious!!! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, it had a ton a reviews. I used the candied cherries I made myself a few months ago. I made 2 batches of these biscotti's and instead of using white chocolate to drizzle over them, since I didn't have any, I used regular melting chocolate.

Chocolate Cherry Biscotti Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsps almond extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1/2 cup chopped candied cherries
• 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate

Preheat over to 350F degrees. Grease a large cookie sheet. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs on at a time, then stir in the almond extract. Combine the flour and backing powder; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in candied cherries and mini chocolate chips. With lightly floured hands, shape dough into two 10 inch long loaves. Place rolls 5 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet; flatten each to 3 inch width.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until set and lightly golden brown. Coll 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut loaves diagonally into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange slices cut side down on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 20 minutes, or until bottoms begin to brown. Turn and bake an additional 5 minutes, or until browned and crisp.

Cool completely. Melt white chocolate in the microwave, stirring 20 to 30 seconds until smooth. Drizzle cookies with melted white chocolate. Store in tightly covered containers. Keep for weeks!

Cherry Scones

My First Cherry Recipe!

I made these a month or two ago but I'm just getting to posting them. Okay this recipe didn't go exactly as planned. I didn't used dried cherries like the recipe calls for instead I used fresh cherries, although I didn't totally drain them so things were A LOT more messy then they should have been. I went for the icing on top of them after they were done baking but I did not have any oranges or orange juice on hand so instead I used the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon and it turned out good. I gave some to both parents to try and got good reviews.

Cherry Scones Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsps sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup dried cherries**
• whipping cream or milk
• sugar

**In a small bowl pour enough boiling water over 1/2 cup dried tart red cherries to cover. Let the cherries stand for 5 minutes; drain well.

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl combine flour, the 2 Tbsps sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in center of the flour mixture; set mixture aside.

In a medium bowl combine eggs and the 3/4 cup whipping cream. Stir drained cherries and 1/4 tsp almond extract in with egg mixture. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Using a fork, stir just until moistened. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing it for 10 to 12 strokes or until dough is nearly smooth. Divide dough in half. Pat or lightly roll each dough half into a 6-inch circle. Cut each circle into six wedges.

Place dough wedges 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Option 1: Brush wedges with whipping cream and sprinkle with additional sugar. Option 2: Drizzle baked scones with Orange Icing (see below). Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove scones from baking sheet; serve warm.

Orange Icing: Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp orange juice, and 1/4 tsp vanilla; stir in additional orange juice, 1 tsp at a time, to reach desired drizzling consistency.

Exciting News!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GREAT FRIENDS KELSEY AND CHAD

on the exciting news of the announcement they are expecting!

They are about 11 weeks pregnant and due in February. They have been able to see their sweet little pea 3 times already to make sure everything is going good, as they've had a rough road as well. What's even more special is that both of Kelsey's sister-in-laws are expecting this winter as well!! She actually shares the exact due date with of them and the other is due 3 weeks earlier! How sweet is that! Also Chad's sister recently had a baby a few months ago so their little babes will be less then a year apart. Grandma's and Grandparents all around are ecstatic and we are so very happy for them!!

OPK

::Attention Jordan, this is regarding "women talk", you've been warned::

Okay so I obviously have to address that. When I first starting blogging about our "Road to Conceiving" we'll call it, I got a text message from my brother reminding me he reads my blog and he doesn't need to know so much detail about his little sister trying to make a baby. I told hime he didn't have to read those parts but he stated he's rather have a disclaimer or bright flashing warning to let him know. So there's my disclaimer! :)

So here we are 18 months and still no eggo that's preggo! I thought charting and doing the whole basel temperature thing every monring work out but after 8 disappointing months of that and 1 failed attempt that's apparently not enough either. I've decided to take one more step....the Ovulation Predictor Kit (OPK). One of my friends started using them a few months ago and said they were "fun" because you get a smiley face to let you know your ovulating, plus I'm pretty sure it worked for her the first or second month they tried. So last month I thought what the hell, nothing else is working like it's suppose to might as well try one more thing. Well month 1 was a failure! So now we wait. Oh how I've begun to HATE waiting! But of course what other choice do we have but to wait and see what month 2 will bring us.

Week 30 Workout Update

After a week of eating out four days in one week what else do you expect but to gain weight, right? Yup, my first weight gain during the challenge :( What else do you expect when you go out to eat to celebrate 2 birthday's, 1 wedding and a baseball dinner celebrate! Whoops guess the diet went out the window. Although I must say Tuesday we went to Olive Garden for FIL's birthday and I make great choices, as well as Friday when we went to Johnny's Italian Steakhouse to celebrate our husbands great baseball season! However everything went downhill Saturday for my friends wedding (great food and LOTS of drinks) and the brunch the next day for my MIL's birthday.

• Monday - Bicycle, interval training 31 minutes 5.85 miles; Abs- Russian twists and sit-ups on decline bench w/6lb medicine ball 3 sets 20, Reverse Crunches 3 sets of 20, Obliques 20lbs 3 sets of 20; Upper Body Weights- Bench Press 10lbs 2 set of 12, 12.5lbs 1 set of 12, Incline Fly 10 lbs 2 set of 12, 12.5lbs 1 set of 12, Laterals 5 lbs 2 sets of 12, 7.5lbs 1 set of 12, Tricep Dips 3 sets of 15, Tricep Extensions 7.5lbs 2 sets of 12, 10lbs 1 set of 12, Bicep Curls 10lbs 2 sets of 12, 12.5 lbs 1 set of 12, Stretching; Walk with dogs 30 minutes 1.6 miles.
• Tuesday - Elliptical 35 minutes, 3.0 miles; Abs- Russian Twists and Sit-ups on decline bench w/medicine ball 6lbs 3 sets of 20 each, Obliques 25lbs 3 sets of 20, Reverse Crunches 3 sets of 20; Lower Body Weight: Walk out Lunges 10lbs weights 2 sets of 12, Squats 10lbs 3 sets of 12, Plie Squats 15lbs 3 sets of 12; Stretching
• Wednesday - Off
• Thursday - Bicycle 40 minutes, 6.4 miles; Abs- Russian twists and sit-ups on decline bench w/6lb medicine ball 3 sets 20, Reverse Crunches 3 sets of 20, Obliques 20lbs 3 sets of 20; Upper Body Weights- Bench Press 10lbs 2 set of 12, 12.5lbs 1 set of 12, Incline Fly 10 lbs 2 set of 12, 12.5lbs 1 set of 12, Laterals 5 lbs 2 sets of 12, 7.5lbs 1 set of 12, Tricep Dips 3 sets of 15, Tricep Extensions 7.5lbs 2 sets of 12, 10lbs 1 set of 12, Bicep Curls 10lbs 2 sets of 12, 12.5 lbs 1 set of 12, Stretching
• Friday- Elliptical 30 minutes
• Saturday - Off
• Sunday -Off

Week 8 Weight-Loss: + 1.1lbs Overall Challenge Weight-Loss: -8.1lbs