I Got Skillz.

  I made a new recipe for dinner tonight!  I was feeling ambitious, so I chose spinach and ricotta filled agnolotti with tomato basil sauce.  I don't even know how to pronounce agnolotti, but the recipe looked yummy, it was one that I've had bookmarked for quite a while, so in the spirit of renewed healthy eating, I gave it a whirl. 

   To start with, you have to wilt a bunch of spinach (which is actually really fun to watch... imagine the melting scene from the Wizard of Oz and replace the witch with a bunch of leaves).  Then you saute the spinach/wicked witch with onions, garlic and a bit of olive oil.  Then you take the whole thing, and puree it in the food processor.  The result looked a whole lot more like green baby puke than I was intending, but once you add the ricotta and other ingredients it resembled a nice pesto rather than infant bile, so I was willing to continue cooking... The next step is putting a dollop of the green goo in the middle of a wonton wrapper, folding it over and sealing the sides so the goo doesn't escape.  Repeat 34 times.  This is what the process looked like:

  When you are all done filling and sealing, you get a whole bunch of cute little triangles of joy!  This is just the first few, by the time I was done the whole cookie sheet was filled.

   Next, I made a super easy tomato sauce made of another drop of olive oil, a can of diced tomatoes, fresh basil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Finally, I simply boiled the green joy triangles for a couple of minutes (I had two that exploded, but the rest survived), and viola!!!  Dinner is served!

  It was way more awesome that I expected it to be, considering the icky baby vomit resemblance from the puree-ing stage.  All in all, I can say that I will most definitely make this again (but maybe on a day when I have time to let them sit in the fridge for 2 hours to firm up... I'm thinking this is the cause of the two explosions...)  The best part is, they are super low cal.  Per serving, the stats are: 235 calories, 4.7g fat, 10.4g protein, 38.5g carbs, 5g fiber.
  
   This was the first recipe I tried from a cookbook that I think I stole from my Mom's bookcase a while back (sorry Mom!).  Its called Cooking Light, and it's a collection of their annual recipes from 1999.  A bit dated, but hey, still a yummy dinner.  It is obvious from this evening that I have mad skillz in the kitchen.  Bobby Flay had better watch his back. 

Cold Turkey.

   Hello.  My name is Megan, and I'm a chocoholic.  I say this with only the slightest bit of jest, because it is undeniably true.  I am not capable of having chocolate in my house, at the office, or in the immediate vicinity really, without feeling an overwhelming and debilitating urge to consume it.  After many years of such behavior, it has become clear to me that my desire for chocolate is now starting to resemble an addiction.  And it is with this concept of addiction in mind, that I am going to start now in attempting to cure myself.

   I have never been a supermodel, but I have always tried to at least be relatively healthy.  It has come to my attention however, that in recent months/the past year, I am much less healthy than I normally am, and my quota of available clothing that still fits properly without creating that oh-so-attractive "stuffed sausage" look, is dwindling.  In retrospect, it is clear to me that chocolate is one of the main culprits in my lack of health/wardrobe these days.  Chocolate is my #1 vice, my comforter when I am blue, my security blanket when I am scared, and my proverbial "glass of champagne" when I feel like celebrating.  However chocolate and I, unfortunately, need to break up.  It has been one hell of a ride, there were good times, and there were great times; but now, for the sake of my health and my waistline, we must part ways.

   Thus begins the Great Chocolate Purge of 2011.  I am giving it up.  Cold turkey.  Behold the decimation.  This isn't to say that chocolate and I are completely through... there is a time and a place for chocolate.  And when I find myself in one of those special times or places, I will most certainly imbibe.  However those times and places are reserved for special things like celebrations, rare fancy meals out, and very traumatic life events when consuming chocolate is the only ineffective coping skill that will suffice.

   Therefore, as is likely already apparent, the purpose of this blog is to document my severance from chocolate dependence.  It is also going to be a tool with which I can hold myself accountable for my choices, and strive to become healthier.  I will post things like great, healthy recipes that I come across and don't burn in the kitchen; the top 10 reasons why I hate running; why gals with assets up top cannot survive with only one sports bra; any little successes I have (because who doesn't like patting themselves on the back?); and any hysterical and ridiculous trip-ups that happen along this journey that simply must be shared with the world. 

   So to start, I will make a confession.  Today at work I consumed an entire king size Hershey's bar.  You know, the ones that look like the size of a paperback novel?  The.  Whole.  Thing.  And I liked it.  It was like Christmas and school supply shopping all rolled into one divine experience.  It is a good thing I liked it, because it is the last chocolate I will be consuming until my birthday, in exactly 32 days.  This will be challenge number one. 

   This is gonna hurt. 
   A lot.