Blake's Billboard and VTN TV Venture

Blake and I went to Southeast Arkansas this weekend and Little Rock.  He had a total of 4 events...we were worn out!  On Saturday Blake sang for a festival...and on our way to it we saw this off the highway.  We had to stop!

 

Then, Blake had a TV recording slot scheduled.  They filmed him singing 3 songs and will air them at a later date.  It was cool!  Very nice studios at www.VTNTV.com 

Our Living Room Journey

Transformation of our "Cave" Living Room
(from mud brown to happy yellow!)

BEFORE

This is after we got some lighting in the room.
I thought it was pretty, but mostly pretty just in pictures and not really in person.
Now, the yellow is prettier in person than in pictures.

PLANNING THE COLORS

I helped too!  In between photos. :)

Now the Shelves...

3 coats of paint later...

 

Listening to Pandora Radio - Gaithers :)

 

New Rug is cat-approved

The room is not really this dark of a yellow...

it's a lot softer in person than in the photos.

Only 3 more cabinets to go!!

This is more the yellow that it looks like to me

And just for kicks...he's too cute not to post

My Top "Have-to-Read" Books - (and just books that I really really enjoyed...)

This topic came up in book club last night.  So I thought I'd post the books that stand out to me as excellent reads. I might add to this list as I reminisce. :)

My Top "Have-to-Read" Books - (and just books that I really really enjoyed...)

1. “Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson
or “Thunderstruck” is awesome too)

2. “Sickened” by Julie Gregory

3. “Switching Time” by Richard Baer

4. “Memoirs of a Geisha” by Arthur Golden

5. All those books everyone is recommending...The Help by Kathryn Stockett. The Glass Castle, Water for Elephants, Hunger Games...they are really good.

6. “Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett
(and “A Dangerous Fortune” is awesome too)

7. “Clan of the Cave Bear” by Jean Auel

8. “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides

9. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

10. “Sophie’s Heart” by Lori Wick

11. “The Other Boleyn Girl” by Philippa Gregory

12. “The Princess Bride” by William Goldman

13. “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” by Lisa See

14. "Across the Nightingale Floor", by Gillian Rubinstein (AKA Lian Hearn)

Fantastic recipes lately

Blake and I have been doing so good on our life-change lately!  We've incorporated exercise into our lives and healthy eating.  I can't praise Bobay Fitness (www.bobayfitness.com) enough for their great ideas and inspiration.  Here are some yummy recipes we've tried that have worked really well on our meal plans:

Fajitas
-frozen chicken breasts (2)
-1/2 onion, sliced and can use a zucchini and yellow squash or slice bell peppers; brown in skillet on medium high heat, sprinkle with Lawry's season salt
-mostly Defrost the chicken in the microwave, then generously coat both sides with Lawry's seasoning salt.  Then cook on George Foreman grill at 360 for 9 minutes.  Don't use tortillas if you're really wanting to keep your carbs low.

Omelets
1 full egg
3 egg whites
diced onions, bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped spinach (estimated amount)
shredded lunch meat
-Spray your cold pan with olive oil.  Put eggs in it and turn stove on to medium heat.
-As you see the eggs start to become opaque, add your filling ingredients to the lower half of your omelet and generously add salt and pepper and any other spice that sounds good.
-Once the eggs look mostly cooked, use your spatula to fold the omelet on top of itself, cook a little longer on both sides until lightly browned

Chicken Tortilla Soup (without the tortillas)
2 or 3 large frozen chicken breasts (or using unfrozen takes less time)
1 can corn, undrained
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
3 spoonfulls of salt
1 spoonfull of pepper
-Start frozen chicken breasts in crockpot and fill with water until about an inch above the chicken.
-Cook on high for 4 hours
-Check to make sure chicken is cooked through, then shred it in the crockpot.
-Add corn, tomatoes and seasonings to crockpot
-Cook on low another 2 hours.  Taste the broth, dilute with 1/2 cup water at a time if the spices are too strong.  Serve with lowfat cheese. (These are estimated cooktimes...as long as the chicken is completely cooked, you can eat it at any time)

My mom says this one is excellent-->
Maple Glazed Squash Slices(from "Food and Fitness Magazine winter 2011", Serves 4)

1 medium acorn squash (about 1 1/2 lbs)

1 Tbsp unsalted butter (i used less)

3 Tbsp real maple syrup (not pancake syrup)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ginger

pinch of nutmeg

 - Preheat oven to 425 degrees

 -Slice ends from squash and halve lengthwise. Use spoon to hollow out seeds. Slice       

     squash into 1/2” slices and transfer the slices to a large bowl.

- In a small saucepan melt butter. Stir in syrup and spices. Pour some over the squash 

     slices and toss to coat.

- Arrange the squash on a baking sheet and pout the remaining syrup mixture over the    

    slices. (I line the pan with foil for easy cleanup).

- Bake the squash slices for 15 min, flip, and bake another 5-10 min until squash is  tender.

(You can also cook it in the crockpot on high for 2 hours, or low for 3 hours)

Turkey Chili
-3 cans tomato paste
-2 lbs ground turkey

-1 can black beans
-1 packet ranch dressing mix
-1 packet taco mix
-1/2 diced onion
-black olives
-add water to desired thickness
-drizzle honey across top as it simmers, to desired sweetness 
-toss all ingredients in crockpot and cook on high 4 hours, or low for 6 or more hours.  Can also just brown the turkey first and simmer on stovetop until it's heated through.

Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos
(Makes over 2 dozen burritos)

4 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

12-24 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed

8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

6 cups canned refried beans, drained

1 ½ cups frozen corn

2 cups water or less (or chicken bouillon)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

2 Tbsp garlic, minced

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

4 tsp prepared mustard

1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste

3 Tbsp soy sauce

DIRECTIONS

--Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans, and mash.
--Stir in beans, sweet potatoes and mash.  Add corn.
--Gradually stir in water, and heat until warm. Remove from heat, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce.

--Divide mixture evenly between the warm flour tortillas.

--Top with cheese. Fold up tortillas burrito style.
--Heat another skilllet on med-high with olive oil. Add 1-2 burritos at a time and sear each side in the skillet until tortilla is medium brown. 

Healthy Eating

Blake and I have been cooking at home A LOT!!  Unfortunately, for you all who are interested in my recipes, it's been healthy eating and no carbs after 3pm! Yikes! But, I'm happy to say in a month I've lost somewhere around 8 pounds and Blake has lost 15?  We're a little unsure because we bought a scale halfway through, so we both may have lost more.  We are following our dear friends' fitness plan.  They are personal and corporate trainers and I've mentioned them before:  www.facebook.com/bobayfitness  and www.bobayfitness.com

I've outlined their suggestions here:

• 5-6 meals a day total
• Eat every 3-4 hours, never eat within 2 hours of last meal so you can digest completely. Lots of water
• No carbs after 3:00, like breads and pasta because then your body will burn your fat reserves instead of the carbs you just ate while you sleep
• 1 full cheat day a week - eat whatever and however much you want, just be strict the rest of the days of the week
• good protein bar choices are Atkins brand or "Pure Protein" brands
• meat portions should stay in 4-6 oz size, like the palm size of your hand
• aim for meals to be at or under 500 calories, and snacks under 200 calories
• good salad dressings would be light/low sugar vinaigrettes, or light Italian, usually a clear color means healthier option
• you still need moderate carbs at lunchtime - can use mustard or light mayo on your sandwiches
• use your imagination within the rules to decide what you can/can't eat
• splenda is okay to use

Estimated Meal times
-6:00am  Breakfast ideas:
 Omelet (can use 4 egg whites, 1 full egg, spices, lowfat cheese, veggies, chicken pieces)/ or 1 bowl oatmeal and 1 fruit/ or cereal (no more than 5g sugar per serving)/ or 2 pieces toast with peanut butter/ or slimfast shake if in a hurry
-9:00  Snack 1 ideas:
 1 piece of fruit/ or protein bar/ or protein shake/ or handful of almonds or walnuts (not peanuts)/ or can of tuna
-12:00pm  Lunch ideas:
 a sandwich and piece of fruit/ chicken strip salad and a sweet potato/ grilled chicken and brown rice and veggies/ or tuna fish sandwich and fruit, veggies
-3:00pm  Snack 2 Ideas:
deli meat wrap/ or handful of nuts/ or protein bar or shake (fruit is best choice for the morning because it has carbs and sugar)
-6:00pm  Dinner Ideas:
 grilled chicken/fish and veggies (like fajitas or stirfry)/ or lean red meat and veggies/ or omelet again like with chicken and spinach in it/ or big salad/ or turkey burger wrapped in big lettuce piece with veggies/ or vegetable beef stew
-8:00pm Snack 3 (if you need it):
handful of almonds or cashews or walnuts

Awful Blogger

I've been an awful blogger.  I just haven't been able to justify taking the time to blog when I could be "working".  So, for the most up to date stuff on us, subscribe to Blake's and my monthly email:  http://blakebolerjack.com/elist.php

I'll still keep blogging on here but I'm having to give it a rest for a bit to get other stuff done!!

Gooey Popcorn

To my knowledge, this is not a protected Bolerjack family secret recipe.  But it might be.  If so, don't tell anyone! ;)

Bolerjack Gooey Popcorn

-Raw, plain popcorn kernels (cook using instructions on bag)

-vegetable oil, enough to thinly cover bottom of big pot
Sauce:

-1 cup sugar

-1/3 cup corn syrup (like Karo)

-1/3 cup water

-1/4 cup butter

-3/4 tsp salt

-3/4 tsp vanilla, to add at end

1. cook popcorn kernels according to instructions on bag, enough to make big, big bowl-full

2. in small saucepan over medium high heat, dissolve other sauce ingredients except vanilla

3. bring sauce to a low boil

4. boil sauce until when you stir it, the syrup looks thicker, dripping off your spoon in strings. maybe about 15 min?

5. Add vanilla to sauce at this point, stir

6. Drizzle sauce over cooked, plain, popcorn