A mere 10 years ago (shoot, it’s been 10 years??!!) I used to dread being forced to spend a weekend at The Cabin.  I was in high school and come on I could not miss a whole weekend of my ‘social life’ and AIM.  To be honest I barely had a social life; I was definitely not going to any parties.  I just wanted to watch soccer games and play my clarinet in marching band and have sleepovers.  Maybe an innocent make-out sesh after 6 months of dating the same guy.  Oh yeah, and study my butt off because that’s what the weekends were really for.

Now? It’s really hard to fathom why I had such annoyance with my mom for dragging me to a gorgeous place separated from electricity and society to enjoy relaxation, family, friends, food, and nature.

But I guess at age 14, there isn’t much I truly wanted to get away from.  Oh financial stress? What’s that?  I can’t afford to buy a new pair of jeans,  DANG IT!!  Finding a job?? I totally had to take two days off from scooping ice cream to be here, ugh.   Relationships?  He’s going to wonder what I’m doing without an AIM away message! Hang out with my family? Okay, I actually never hated that part.

Despite relying on coolers for the majority of our refrigeration and a “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down” toilet mentality, it’s such a great getaway.  A vacation 2 hours away!  And when you’re on vacation, it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere.  That’s definitely something I didn’t appreciate at 14.

It’s pretty much a guarantee for good beer, good food, and lots of laughs.

Just sit back and enjoy the humble surroundings (while we eat like we’re about to go on Survivor), and come back smelling like a camp fire with greasy hair.

What did you consider a pain in your ass as a child but now completely look forward to?

I know the frozen banana custard thing has been out there in blog land for awhile but it still amazes me that something so good and creamy can come out of frozen bananas.   The other day I added a big scoop of peanut butter into the food processor with one chopped up frozen banana and I had to remind myself that I was eating a pretty balanced snack.

I’m not one to shun a real ice cream indulgence considering I’m pretty much a connoisseur having worked in the industry* for 3 years, but sometimes you want something just a little better for you.  If you haven’t given this a try to, it’s a bandwagon I fully support jumping on- even though I have a slight allergy to raw bananas (I finally realized why I don’t love plain bananas after 24 years).

*By industry I mean I scooped ice cream and dished up glorious sundae creations.

Sometimes workout motivation is found in the weirdest ways.  “I should really wash my hair so I guess I’ll get a sweaty workout in before I shower…”

I KNOW I’m not the only one that has had this thought.  Anyone who’s hair takes longer than an hour to dry and doesn’t look so great without some sort of styling tool.  Not only did I have the motivation of greasy hair tonight, but there was a surprise in the shower (a really innocent one).

A world map shower curtain!  How much fun is this?  You totally want to shower in my shower.  But really, have you ever found enjoyment in your shower curtain liner?  Now I can shower and refresh my memory on world geography- two activities I do daily anyway.  Almost… sometimes showering is lame.  Today’s workout (and shower): brought to you by dirty hair and world map shower curtains. I have to give credit to my friend D for having a world map shower curtain first and being the inspiration for finding one.

By the way, taking pictures of the shower curtain from in the tub is not that easy. OH hey- there’s Morocco, I’m definitely going there next summer to visit my sister.

I have a lot of apples, approximately 100.

Apples with yogurt and crunchy cereal things.

A pie I promised to some Boston friends and forgot… so I guess I will have to return to Boston.

Applesauce. Way more applesauce than anyone with a full set of teeth needs.  Feel free to stop by my freezer for a container or 8.

Every morning, the leftover coffee goes into the fridge for afternoon iced coffee.  BUT first, add sugar while the coffee is still hot and it will dissolve much easier than when it’s on ice.  The way half-and-half looks pouring over the ice and coffee just makes me want to take a picture. So I did. Coffee or tea for you? What’s your afternoon vice?

If there is one topic many food, recipe, running, health, or whatever (trying not to put a label on here.. ahem) bloggers don’t touch on, it has to be beer.  Sure there are excellent beer blogs and excellent food and health blogs, but I haven’t seen much common ground (except here! and some here! oh and she really loves her beer!).  By beer we should discuss, I’m referring to craft beers- Sam Adams and smaller.  I think we’re missing out in this blog community by ignoring beer; those of us who appreciate quality flavors and innovative recipes.  I can appeal to the political foodie as well in that craft beers are more like going to the farmer’s market than supporting subsidized corn.

Once in awhile I see beer appearances on blogs with the the majority consensus seeming to be that beer was for frat parties and men, never for a classy woman who was interested in maintaining a figure sans beer belly.  Natty Light has a special place in my heart but believe me, the beer I drank in college was not for the flavor.   (Dear relatives, I hope you’re not as shocked as my mom that I drank beer a lot in college). These days, I enjoy a beer most nights and without posting a picture of my belly because that would be weird, I assure you I’m not looking anything close to that guy from Animal House.   And I’m pretty classy some of the time, I think?

So here we start.  Take the beer at the top of the page.  Since it is a craft beer, you might not be able to find it as it’s a smaller brewery.  No worries, look for your own local “English Strong Ale.”   Don’t stop reading because you don’t know what that means! I bet at one point, you couldn’t tell wine varieties apart, or squash varieties… but you can learn, right?

Okay so when you’re reading a beer description or trying to come up with your own, there are two major words to know: hops and malts.  Here is a really basic description of these flavors. If you ever taste a beer and it is kind of bitter or smells a bit floral and herbal to you: hoppy.  If it has more of a sweet flavor or earthy smell: malty.  These are really basic, and I have a harder time describing malty.  But try a beer, Google it, and think about the description.  Soon enough you’ll discern the flavors they talk about.  This Ubu Ale has more distinct maltiness than hoppiness aka it’s a little on the sweet side but pretty well-balanced in flavors which makes it taste pretty mild.

Have you tried this beer or another English Strong Ale? What do you think?  Is anyone receptive to beer learning?!

*Disclaimer: This is my own beer taste bud views and I am not a professional beer drinker although that would be a cool job.

In our house, everyone knows that when I offer to make breakfast, they should say yes.  I might not be a great writer or a great job-finder or a great dancer, but I will throw it out there that I make some dang good egg sandwiches.  This morning was multi-grain bread with egg, sauteed onion, a bit of Dubliner cheddar (the bright yellow is yolk, not cheese), and finally, blue cheese garlic butter.

Blue cheese. Garlic. Butter.

P.S.-  Unless you attract other blue cheesy garlic oniony lovers, refrain from kissing post-breakfast.

The silver lining of it all has to be the strengthening and binding of family.  Day in and day out we spent with family, and though we cried there were a lot of laughs and then a lot of joyful tears about the bonding.  I can place the blame on John Jameson for at least a few of those late night tears.   In our late-night conversations we all came to that point we must remind ourselves of: we only have this one chance at this life and you’ve got to go for what you want and need out of it.  If it weren’t for the sorrows we wouldn’t quite appreciate the joy.  Don’t spend too much time thinking on the past or future- life’s going by faster than you can imagine.  Man, getting so deep here you’d think I was having a nip of the whiskey now.

Anyhow, I’ve got to say that my parental and family situation is probably a little more… unusual.  But I also couldn’t imagine it being any better.  First off- my mom has 4 siblings, my dad has 5 and my Bob has 5, plus one of my mom’s best friends Mary had 8 siblings.  And they all grew up in the same neighborhood- plus many of my Uncles, Aunts, and a lot of family friends (hi Marianne!). Think of all the cousins and cousin-like people I have.  They were tight-knit and the whole neighborhood hung out together, not in front of the TV (Oh did I mention the strong Irish Catholic vibe of the neighborhood?). It’s just something that I think totally lacks in this generation. For instance, my dad was good friends with a few of my stepdad’s brothers growing up and causing trouble together.  Same with my Aunt Laurie.  Maybe it sounds a little too close for some but as a divorced kid it couldn’t have been better than my dad and stepdad knew each other and their whole families already.   And in a situation like this, it is unbelievable support we are all giving and receiving from this wide net of friends and family.

This all probably seems a little off-topic and someone somewhere probably thinks I’m bragging about my family but it’s all just about appreciating the everyday and the people you have around you. 

But I am kind of proud to be part of such a crazy family unit, won’t lie.

Basic, simple, delicious food (totally stole that from Katie ): I feel the best when I am putting GOOD and SIMPLE foods into my body.  Foods that my body know what to do with and know how to process.  Whole grains, eggs, and lots and lots of greens. Lets get back to basics and let the natural flavors really stand out in the foods we eat.

Exercise: My exercise habits have changed slightly since running the marathon.  I have been trying to focus on strength and over all total body health rather than just cardio.  I am running a half marathon on October 17th, and then I might break up from running for a while.  I have found a new workout, CrossFit, at a new gym that I am really loving.  I am also loving hiking and just being OUTSIDE instead of on a treadmill.  I want to get back to why I started exercising in the first place.  I love the way it makes me feel.

Case Mountain Summit in Manchester, CT

BUDGET!: I will be completely honest with you, Stephen and I have rarely had to budget.  We have either had lots of money (like when we first got married), or no money at all (like when he had no job and we were living with his parents).  We have either been able to buy pretty much whatever we want or nothing at all.  We are in a position now where we both have amazing jobs with very good paychecks for how young we are.  We also have a house and lots of responsibilities.  For the first time in our married life we are able to buy things, but must plan it first.  Last month I analyzed out bank statement and divided every transaction into categories so I could see where we were wasting the most money.  We were spending way more than I realized on food!  I was buying groceries, AND we were getting take out probably once a week and going out to dinner on weekends, Stephen was also buying lunch out almost everyday at work.  This has got to stop!!!!  After analyzing out budget I have created a spread sheet (love excel) to keep track of every penny we spend and to budget our “categories”.  I will definitely be blogging about this!

So bear with us as we find out footing here at 2L1L!!!

On Saturdays (okay everyday while I’m not employed), I like to check out the vegetable drawer for breakfast.  Sneak a serving or two in first thing. Use up leftovers or those on-the-out vegetables before you go shopping again.

Pull out all your vegetables and figure out what order to put everything in the pan.  If you do it all at once, you might end up with burned or soggy vegetables.  If using mushrooms, add them first since shrooms get schweaty.  Check out the sweat on the side of the pan above.

After the shrooms sweat it out, add peppers, onion, broccoli, or anything else.  Maybe you have some already cooked leftovers (cubed sweet and white potatoes), add those next along with tomatoes.  And some leftover deli ham or some crumbled bacon..

While everything warms up, whisk together your eggs (those yolks have SO many nutrients and remember dietary cholesterol ≠ blood cholesterol!), turn down the heat a notch and pour eggs over the vegetables.

Cook it until the eggs are set to your liking and you’re starting your day pretty balanced- vegetables, fiber, protein, fat.  Uh, then try to take an appetizing picture of eggs.  It’s not easy.