{trulie} scrumptious: Poppy Chain Boutique

More often than not, I get the case of the Mondays.

{Me: Ugh,  Monday again?  :(  Boo.}

I know I'm not the only one.  I usually detest them.  But not today my friend!  

I'm not sure if it's the summer beginning to wind down, school getting started, or if I'm just {trulie} excited to introduce a new scrumptious friend of ours: 

Ashley Kirnan.

And no, I don't think she's totally cool because we share the same name...

But it helps.

juuuuust kiddin' :)

But no, really..

Ashley has graciously honored our sweet little blog by letting us feature her esty shop: The Poppy Chain Boutique.  If you have a minute or two-or ten you have to CHECK OUT her CLASSY, Vintage, FlORAl jewelry.  As I've told her before, she has got excellent taste and I've already got several pieces on my wishlist that Spunky, (my hubby) will just "happen to find" on my computer desktop.  My birthday is coming up awfully fast... (hint, hint ;)

Spend a moment or two to get to know our newest friend,

Ashley: I'm Ryan's wife (7 years in October!) and Brynlee (2 years) and Mac's (9 months) mom.  We currently live outside of Boston, but we are originally from western NY.  We hope to go back within a year.  I love, love, love anything creative: sewing, decorating, crafting, writing, cooking, taking pictures.  Glue guns are my foe, but I can't live without them.  I love fabric, and I shamelessly hoard it.  Pretty patterns make me weak in the knees!  I love designing and making jewelry; for me, and for my Etsy shop.  I stay at home with my kids, and am living my dream.  All I ever wanted to do was be a wife and a mom and I'm so grateful to God for giving me the desires of my heart.

fav post: (as of late) http://thekirnancrib.blogspot.com/2011/07/life-with-boy.html

my etsy shop has been featured on She {Hearts} It:  http://sheheartsit.com/handmade/the-poppy-chain-boutique/

I'll be featured on tuesday :) on Craftionary: http://craftionary.blogspot.com

 

Also watch out for our Tute-Sweet-Tuesday : Next week.  Ashley will be stopping by and has a most excellent treat for us :)

Happy Monday all!

{wannabe} Celebrities

GUESS who is part of the one and only....

That's right, WE ARE! And BOY are we excited! We get to participate  in all this AWESOMENESS along with a few blogging celebs..  

(We got a participant button and everything)

So here is our "Celebrity for a Day" moment.

That's right... We are Pretty Legit today.

So get your hineys on over to 

This crazy Blessed life

 and drool over all your future "MUST DO" Projects!

we just HAD to show off our participant button to show how cool we are ;)

How to HOMEMADE YOGURT

First off- thank you to our guest blogger for today, Jenna!

(our guest bloggers are awesome, yeah?!) 

I've know her since Mr. What's-His-Name's class for math in Jr. High.   I'm pretty sure I failed that class, (dang you MATH!) but we had a pretty great time writing notes and talking-tee-hee-hee!

I saw her post on FB and immediately knew I HAD to have her share her healthy yogurt makin' talent with you all!  

And for Healthy Food Week? PERFECT!

Without further ado...

Jenna!

Oh boy, Where to begin?

Ashlie had recently contacted me because she had read my facebook status about me making homemade yogurt. Why was I attempting such a thing? Well, there is few things I actually excel in in life. In fact for the most part I am horrible at way too many things. For example, I have tried over and over the be a pet owner and after a few miserable and traumatic failed attempts I began to realize that just wasn't for me. (Let just say if we have our pets in Heaven I'll have a 1000 fish a few dogs and even a crab that I just flushed down the toilet) But for all the millions of things I am horrible at in life I have a few good things I excel in, one being eating healthy. I grew up in a home where every meal was made from scratch and for the most part they were relatively pretty healthy. I learned my basic habits there, but I didn't put them into play until I had children. I had once read a study on cancer and it had said that 70% of cancer cases are due to you're diet! 70% People!!! This is huge! (Whether this is true or not, it lit the fire under my butt!)

Ok, back to the yogurt...I have a son who LOVES, LOVES, LOVES, yogurt and would eat it for Breakfast, brunch, snack, lunch, Snack, Linner, Dinner, Midnight snack...You get the point, he would base a diet around yogurt. However, it is a rare occurrence when we have yogurt in our house for two reasons:

1. It's doesn't fit in to my grocery budget. (It's way over priced if you ask me!)

2. It truly is unhealthy for you (GASP) I know "they" say it's healthy! Who really is "they" anyway?

If we understood what was contained in that tiny packaged container we would throw it all away. But because I'm the loving mom who can't stand to let her little boy down I figured I'd find another alternative for his yogurt fetish.

Oh and did I mention it's SUPER EASY and SUPER CHEAP? Well it is!

Ok here we go...You don't even need to write
this down, YEP it's that Easy!

Ingredients you will need: (you may have seen other varieties, but this is the way I like it)

--8 cups (half-gallon) of whole milk--pasteurized and homogenized

is fine, but do NOT use ultra-pasteurized. (The fattier the milk the thicker the yogurt will be. I use 2% for the kids and Husband, I use skim for me!)

--1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active culture plain yogurt (you need to have a starter. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter) I actually have used vanilla and it works just great.

--frozen/fresh fruit for flavoring

--thick bath towel

The Directions.

This takes a while. Make your yogurt on a weekend day when you are home to monitor.
Plug in your crockpot and turn to low. Add and add the entire half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

Unplug your crockpot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.
When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine.

Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.

Go to bed, or let it sit for 8 hours.

In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened---it's not as thick as store-bought yogurt, but has the consistency of low-fat plain yogurt.

Chill in a plastic container(s) in the refrigerator. Your fresh yogurt will last 7-10 days. Save 1/2 cup as a starter to make a new batch.

Now here is the part that gets tricky and you can use your own judgment on what you care to do. You will want to add some sort of sweetener. I just add fruit and it's is sweet enough for our family. (I don't add sugar to anything, so my kids are use to that)

In my opinion adding Honey would be good or liquid stevia. But please, pretty pretty pretty please don't add sugar or splenda:)

My favorite thing to do with the yogurt is make a smoothy! I love cream based smoothies. I add a little yogurt, a little fruit oh heck and a little spinach and you've got a great healthy smoothy! (my kids love it too AND they know there is spinach in there! Wahoo)

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do! I was shaking with excitement when I made this, it may be the topic of conversation for me for the next month or so!

Happy Tute Sweet Tuesday!

Ok, you awesome opossum {trulie scrumptious} readers.  You're in for a real treat with a capital 'SWEET'.  My good friend Lille has agreed to honor us with a delectable treat that will have you sitting on your couch watchin' soaps eating bon bons - guilt-free.  Nope, I didn't stutter.  
We're kickin' off our healthy food week {trulie scrumptious} style: 
Sweet Tooth first.
(um, hello-would you really have it any other way?)
 I'm not even gonna spoil by saying what "it" is, so read on, lovies, read on.


Oh, and to catch more scrumptious recipes check out Lille's own scrumptious blog at: http://foodforthroughout.blogspot.com/

Take it away Lille!

Oh my!  I am so excited / nervous to write for all you awesome readers!  Seriously, my hands are shaking as I write this post. 

As I was watching the hubby and kiddo make me dinner last night (why is mother's day a one day ordeal?), I was asked if I could share a healthy recipe for {trulie-scrumptious}.  Hm...a healthy recipe. Why Ashlie thought I knew how to cook healthy, I'll never know. :) But I love to cook, it makes me happy, and so does eating (unfortunately)!! 

Growing up, my dad was the cook in our household every Thursday night while my mom went to a singing group.  We could always count on either cornbread or pancakes.  Always.  However, he was a creative (understatement) cook.  He would scrummage through the fridge to find something "new" to put into pancakes.  I distinctly remember rice and yogurt or cheese and potatoes.  Yes, I wrote those right.  I attribute my creative cooking to my dad.  To this day, I cannot, I repeat, CANNOT have plain jane pancakes.  So boring!  So if you give me a recipe, sure I'll follow it, but not before adding a little "Lille spice" into the mixture.  

ANYWAYS, what does this have to do with me being a healthy eater?  Realizing that I really do LOVE to eat, I need to be careful with how I cook.  (If I may brag here, I have learned how to make a mean batch of muddy buddies without butter.  Still not healthy, yes I know, but a little less guilt per bite.)  Now I have been one of "those people" that diets on and off throughout the years.  I'm definitely still working on the perfect body, but I have learned one thing through all those crazy diets.  

You ready to hear my itty bitty tiny secret?  Ok, but I'm telling you, and only you.  So lean in a little closer.  A little closer.  Alright, the secret to success is....don't cut yourself off completely from sweets.  Ok, so many of you may be shaking your heads, some may have already shut their lap tops, but I am here to say that if you cut yourself off from sweets completely, the likelihood of SPLURGING / BINGING will make us all fall short.  I myself went 2 months without eating any sweets (where is that girl now?), but when I came back to reality, my goodness.  The candy heavens opened up to me and let me in.  I truly indulged.  So to keep me a little more regimented, I allow two sweet days per week.  Not splurge days, just a little treat day.  And this helps me not go crazy with the sweets.  

So to help us all get in those bikinis that sit in the back of our deepest drawer, let's not forget about reality.  We all have a sweet tooth.  

Alright, alright.  Get to the good part. Do you like the Samoa cookies the Girl Scouts sell?  Well, I surely do.  They somehow find me every year.  So I have altered a recipe to satisfy all cravings with a familiar taste of those GLORIOUS Samoas, but without the guilt.  Each cookie is only 35 calories.  YUP, 35 calories.  You can thank me later. 

Lightened Up Samoa Meringues

• 3 large egg whites (room temperature)
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp coconut extract  

(you can use vanilla if you don't have coconut extract. However, coconut extract is a good purchase.  Just saying.)

• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Makes approximately 30-35 cookies

Heat oven to 300°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper (or just use spray oil, adds a little more fat, but we all have spray oil).

Using a mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together in large bowl at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar a little at a time, beating well after each addition until you get stiff peaks, the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is glossy, then beat in the coconut extract.  Once you've done all your beating, fold in the coconut and chocolate chips.  

Drop mixture by tablespoons onto cookie sheet.

{Disclaimer, these pictures are not my own, but via google search}

Bake 35 to 45 minutes or just until dry. Cool slightly (psh, if you can resist after smelling them cook); remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack. Store covered, at room temperature.

Now I am here to say, that these delectable cookies are one of my favorite treats.  And SUPER EASY to make!!  So pick your treat day, and treat yourself for being good, exercising and eating right!

XOXO

Lille

Guest blogger. Lindsey

WE have our last, but not least Guest blogger with us here today.

Everyone say, Hello Lindsey! (you all said it right?)

You are going to be A-m-azed with her story, we sure were...

Without further ado, here is Lindsey's story:

Yayyy! I'm SO happy to be here with you amazing

{trulie-scrumptious} readers!

When Rozalynn emailed me the other day I had NO idea what I would have to share that would be any better then what the average women already knew! So I asked my husband!

To be honest, I thought he'd laugh and say something to the affect, "Blog? Why would you be a guest blogger for exercise!?" But instead he was SOO excited! He told me that I should start with my story. So here you go! ;)

In high school weight was NEVER an issue for me... I played Volleyball, Basketball, and Softball! I got really sick the beginning of my Senior year during Volleyball season and weighed in at a whopping 99 pounds when I should have been 115! It was the most unhealthy I had ever been. I made it through Volleyball season but when it got to Basketball and Softball season I knew that I just couldn't do it. My body just was not physically ready to put even more stress on myself. I struggled with my weight and sickness issues at home. I didn't have friends that knew about it. But I had the BEST mom in the entire world that pushed me to get back to the weight I should be! BUT... This made me extremely unhealthy.

I got to 115 right as I was graduating.  There I stayed. I didn't work out. I didn't do ANYTHING. I hung out with friends. Dated. But thought to myself Working out is for people that want to lose weight!

The next year that wonderful mother of mine, that helped me through SO much, passed away of a heart attack. She was only 48, but my grandmother(her mom) had died at the same age of the same thing. It still hadn't hit me that this could be me.

I had an amazing man that stood by my side through most of these trials and we got married later that year. He truly meant the world to me and I knew that without him I'd be lost!

3 months after getting married we ended up getting pregnant with our first child! We were so excited about this welcomed surprise!

But to say I was lazy during my pregnancy, is an EXTREME understatement! I was HOT, we living in Southern California, and i was just plain lazy. I went from being 117 pounds to being 177 pounds! When I hit 150, I almost had a stroke. I ended up having to be induced due to High Blood Pressure because of the weight that I was carrying around. I did get a beautiful baby boy out of this!

I breastfed my baby for 2 reasons.

1- Healthy for Boston!

2- Everyone told me that it would make me lose the weight.

This did NOT work for me! Breastfeeding did absolutely nothing for my weight. But when Boston hit 4 months I stopping producing milk and at that point I looked in the mirror... And then I stood on the scale... I still had 30 pounds to lose. I was SO hurt. I understood this little miracle that I had gotten but this body was just a reminder of what needed to be worked on.

At this time I started watching The Biggest Loser. I became obsessed! I decided to do it with them. I started working out, I started eating healthy, but what really got me motivated?

My mom and my grandma. They were both over-weight when they passed. I knew that I didn't want to do that to my sweet little boy! I wanted to make it past that 48 mark! I wanted to be here to spend time with my grandchildren and I wanted to watch MY children grow up! So with the odds against me, I decided to turn my life around! I didn't do it to look good. I did it to beat the odds!

I lost the weight pretty easily. Almost felt like it fell off.

But as Boston got older... It got a lot harder to find that time.

I bought Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred... And I got a friend to do it with me everyday!

As soon as we finished Level 1, I knew that it wasn't enough.

So I started running.

I made a goal!

My goal was to do 100 miles in 40 days. I started running a mile a day. Usually 5 days a week, some weeks 6 days! After every 5 days I bumped it up half a mile. It felt so good to be able to run 6, 7, 8, 9, and then 10 miles at a time! I had never been able to run any more then 1 mile. So I made my goal, I knew that I needed a knew one.

So I decided to do the Teton Dam Half Marathon! This will be on my 22nd birthday and I couldn't be more excited! I figured starting at a Half Marathon I could move up to a Marathon by next year! ;)

I then got to work out with Brett from The Biggest Loser... Who once again put that motivation in me to get my *bum* in gear!

Now for my ultimate goal, which will have to wait until I'm done with children.

The Boston Marathon

Even if I never run this race I would LOVE to just qualify!

So my advice for anyone trying to get healthy or trying to get fit...

Find something that motivates you. Something that when you think about, makes you want to be healthy.

Because this is what does it for me! ;)

My AMAZING FAMILY! ;)

If you'd like to check out some more of my workouts, family life, crafts, sewing projects, photography, and see more of my cute little boy, Boston... Check out our family blog!

Guest Blogger.Whitney

Everyone give a warm welcome to our new bloggy BFF 

Whitney!

She's super cool, we Know you'll love her just as much as we do.

In honer of exercise week, she's here to tell us her work-out routine! 

Yipee Whitney. Show us whatcha got!

First off I want to say Hello to all the amazing 

(trulie-scrumptious}readers!

Second, I want to say how stinkin excited I am 

to be here today

The cute Rozalynn emailed me and asked me (of all people, I was honored)

If I would share a little about what I do 

to stay in shape and why I love fitness

I of course jumped right on the opportunity to be here and said YES ma'am

So here I am first time guest posting 

and as excited as ever

My blog is about 

life

being a Newish stay at home mommy

being a wife

Crafting

Creating
Fitness

my adventures as a new sewer

and everything fun in between

Fitness is a humongous part of my life (I have a fitness journal here) and has been since I can remember

I am a physical Fitness Major and Health minor college Grad

And am going to be doing my Student Teaching in PE and Health this Fall

I love fitness and am excited to share it with 

the youth

ok ok Lets start from the very beginning shall we....
I am going to be real here no fluff

check it out 

When I was 8 I started into the gymnastics world

Yes it is its own world

As time went on I really started to love it

by the time I was in Jr. High and High school it was pretty much my life

It is a year round sport

It is hard

It is fun

It is addicting

 (Summer 2004)
I was fit

Solid muscle

Could eat anything I wanted

(Man how I miss that gymnast body)

 

I ended up doing it for 10 years

I competed up to a level 9 (out of ten levels)

And was working level ten stuff when....

I got injured

I fractured my back

It wasn't as bad as it sounds it happened over time and the fractures got bigger and bigger 

until I was in enough pain that it was time to go to the doctor and I had to quit my love

or the back would never heal

I had to wear a hideous brace and quit my life it seemed like

But eventually my back healed and so did my broken heart

during the time I had to wear the brace 

And being new to the college life

(freshman fifteen)

I gained weight 

I was the heaviest I had ever been

ick ick ick
(I can't find a pic of me from those days sorry)

I moved back home my sophomore year of college

Did the school thing online, got an amazing job

And worked out

I worked out hard

You could say I got a bit obsessed

(It was at least 2 hours a day-I wasn't married or a mom yet...I had the time)

I got the skinniest I had been in a LONG time and I was loving life

(August 31st 2007)

I got Married to this amazing man and felt amazing in my dress

(August 2007)

Being a new wife and a full time student, and coaching gymnastics

I got busy

I wasn't working out as much as I should

Until I realized how much I missed it

(June 2009)
And I was at it again

This time I tried the whole running thing

I fell in love

I again got addicted to working out

It was my me time, my thinking time and kept me sane

I got up to 9 miles and decided I wanted to train for a half marathon

Then.....I found out I was pregnant with our little peanut

(Jan 2010)
We were ecstatic

I can't even put into words how much we wanted this

I told myself before I got pregnant I was not going to be one of those ladies

You know the ones that get pregnant and just stop

stop working out, stop eating healthy

That was not going to be me

until I got pregnant

I kept running for a while 

but I just got so tired and nauseous

And I just didn't have it in me anymore

I said I would start back up again when I was past that stage

But I didn't

I still tried to do some things and I wasn't a complete coach potato

I would go on walks and stuff

But I didn't push myself and I regret that

Next time I get pregnant things will be very different

 

 (March 2010)
I was pretty luck I only gained a total of 35 pounds so that wasn't too bad considering

(August 2010)
Then My little Maddux entered this world and all I saw

when I looked in the mirror 

or at pictures was Overweight

I was unhappy

 (I seriously have a hard time looking at the picture above)

 (May 2010)
I feel like the first 25 pounds came off pretty quick and naturally while breastfeeding

But then I plateaued

I couldn't loose the last little bit

So I started at it again

And now we are to one year after the babe was born and 

I am still striving to get back to being the best Fit 

I can be

It is hard

It is frustrating sometimes

But I just try to stay positive and work hard
And I truely do love it
I feel my best when I have been working out
I have more energy
I am happier
And I just enjoy life so much more

I know my body will never be the same unless I kick it into high gear

So that is what I am trying to do now

So...today I run

I go to the gym 

And I do Insanity

I feel like I have to mix it up and do a little of everything

Muscle confusion is the key to success in fitness

and muscle gain

I try to workout 1 to 1 1/2 hours a day

I know for us busy mommy's out there it can be really hard to find the time

I know what that is like

I have a baby

I have a hubby busy in law school

My gym doesn't have day care

So sometimes I workout at home

And the other times as soon as hubby comes home

I am out the door to the gym and back before dinner

Here is my typical week

Day 1- Insanity! (The insanity DVD workout program)
This is usually Monday. It is hard for me to get to the gym

These days because the hubby is at school then we have dinner with grandma

Day 2- Cardio and abs- I am training for a half marathon again so I have one day dedicated

to my training day

I am up to eight miles 

I run on an indoor track so it is a little grueling sometimes

I can't wait to get to running outside again

I also jacked up my knee last week so I have to take it easy for a few weeks

(May 2011)
Day 3- Arms, abs and a little Cardio- 

I lift free weights for about 45 minutes
Here is an example work out that I do sometimes

Bicep curl- 20 w/20lbs

Tricep overhead- 10 w/20lbs

One Arm Dumbbell Row- 15 w/20lbs

Tricep extensions- 10 w/10lbs

Bench press- 15 w/30lbs

Shoulder Press- 10 w/30lbs

Pull-ups- 10 w/30lbs

Bent Arm abductions- 15 w/15lbs

Tricep Dips- 10

(2-3 sets)

I get my ab workouts from Randomabs.com

This site is awesome people 

It gives you a different ab workout everyday

They keep it interesting

And you don't get bored from doin plane old crunches everyday

On my light cardio days I try to at least run 2-3 miles

(I used to die at 1 mile....believe me people it all of a sudden clicks

and you can all do it if you believe in yourself and train)

Day 4- Legs, abs, and Light cardio

I workout on the machines

Hip Abductions- 40 w/50lbs

Hip Aductions- 40 w/50lbs

Leg Press- 20 w/50lbs

calf raises- 25 w/50lbs

lunges- 20 on each leg w/ 30lbs

wall sits- 1 minute hold w/20lbs

Prone Leg curl- 15 w/50lbs

(2-3 sets)

Then I rest and try to eat healthy

I feel like fitness is so important but so are the rest days 

It is when I get things done

When I re-energize

(May 4th 2011)
This is me today

I do not know how much I weigh because 

really weight isn't as important to me

as how I feel

I can tell you however that I am not yet to my goal

but I am working at it everyday

I feel like what I am doing is working

And I will be there soon.

If you have any questions about what I do please feel free to email me

Make sure to check out my blog tyandwhitneyulrich.blogspot.com

Be sure to have a look around and become a follower

I love to meet new people

I love to talk about my journeys 

and hope to keep ya'll updated on my fitness goals 

And hopefully a completion of a half marathon this summer

HAPPY Exercise WEEK!
LOVES,

You know what to do, Link it up!