Happy Birthday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM!!!!

This post deserved a special color of font because this woman is without a doubt the most amazing, selfless, hard working, loving mother anyone could ever have! I am so blessed to call her my mom, and I know the Lord hand picked her for me. He brought me clear across the country to land in the hands of this amazing, Godly woman!

I hope this year is the best yet and I love you so much!!!

 

Hearty Veggie Soup

I'm posting this recipe at the request of Jessica and a few other friends.  Like my protein pancakes, this recipe was tossed together to use up some groceries before leaving town.  I didn't keep track of how much of each spice/seasoning I used, I will do my best to estimate.  BUT, your taste buds can do the measuring too ;-)

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil
4 Small potatoes
3 Garlic cloves
1/2 Yellow onion, diced
1 Cup diced carrots
2 Cans chicken broth (or veggie! I used Swanson's 100% natural)
1 Can black beans
1 Can (or small frozen bag) of mixed veggies
1 Can V8 veggie juice
1 Small can tomato sauce
2 Roma tomatoes
~ 1/2 Tsp Garlic powder
~ 1/2 Tsp Onion powder
~ 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
~ 1 Tbsp Sugar
~ 1 Tsp Dried basil
~ 1 Tsp Dried thyme
~ 1 Tsp Dried oregano
Salt & Pepper to taste


Let's Cook!

1.  Wash and peel potatoes.  Cut into small cubes.  Bring pot of water to boil and add potatoes.  Cook until they are ALMOST cooked through all the way, this will depend on the size of your pieces.  Check with a fork!

2.  Drain potatoes and add to crockpot with chicken broth.  Turn crockpot on to low while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

3.  In a sauté pan add olive oil, garlic, onions and carrots.  Cook until carrots are almost cooked through but still have a bit of crunch.  Add this mixture to the crockpot, stirring ingredients together.

4.  Rinse black beans and add to crockpot.  Add mixed veggies, tomato juice and tomato sauce. Mix ingredients.

5.  Cut the tomatoes into pieces, size doesn't matter it's your preference. Add to crockpot.

6.  Add last 9 ingredients, the spices and seasonings.  Stir together, cover and let sit at low for 2 hours.  Check flavor and add more spices/seasonings if you wish.  Let sit on low for at least another 2 hours.  Enjoy!

**This makes about 12 cups of soup.  I portion it out into mason jars, let cool and freeze. This makes for a great fall meal, or easy lunch to go!

Obsessed Much?

I will first preface this post with saying this is touching a little "deep" and may provoke annoyance in people. Not that I am intending to make people upset but sometimes when you hit on "real" issues it tends to cause some back lash. I have written about things like this before, but not on this blog. Today I wanted to talk about "real life" and what my "real life" is all about. I'm not sure where this is going to go, but here we go!

The title of this post is: "Obssed Much" I titled it for the simple reason of it explains our society today perfectly. We are so obsessed with ourselves, selfies, pictures, social media, celebrities and each other. It has turned our world into a pretty self-absorbed and narcisstic society! Wouldn't you say? I mean, even a mere 10 years ago we barely had cameras on our phone. Texting was just hitting the scene let alone the thought of taking pictures of our food, face, clothes, friends, mountains, drinks, shoes...etc. I think you are totally getting my point. Since when did we find it acceptable to take photos of every moment of our life? Since when did we think people would care? This probably sounds totally hypocritcal since I'm writing on a blog where I'm sharing about my life, but I do think about these things... often!

Don't get me wrong, I love hearing about people's lives and what people are up to, but is it ever too much? I believe it has put an unrealistic amount of pressure on young girls/teens today because they are constantly bombarded with pictures on social media. Girls have become so self conscious of what they wear, who they hang out with (or at least who will be in their pictures), what they look like, how they stand in a picture...etc. Has it ruined our society and expectations?? A couple months ago the camera on my phone broke and instantly I thought, "Great, how are people going to know what I ate? Or did? Or went? Or hung out with? Or the color of the sky? OR THAT I EVEN EXIST?!? (Insert sarcasm here). Honestly, stop and examine yourself and ask "Why am I posting this picture on social media?" I'm not judging because I have an Instagram acct, facebook and twitter but I think if we were to all ask ourselves this question before posting it could change things. Are we posting because we want people to know what were up to? Do we want people to be jealous? Do we want it to look like we have an awesome, better than every one else life? If so, maybe opt out. If social media isn't going away then let's start using it for good and not obsession. What does this mean or look like? I'm not sure either, so we can all figure it out together.  

Ultimately what I want to get at here is that obsessing over ourselves leads us to a place of feeling empty. The one and only thing for me that builds me up is the Lord. My relationship with the Lord is absolutely the most important thing in my life. I am so thankful for His grace and mercy and how He can give me strength and peace like nothing in this world can.

Colossians 3:2 "Set your affections on things above; not on things on the earth."

I hope this post didn't make you run for the hills but ultimately made you stop and think- because it definitely has me thinking and re-evaluating my actions. In a world where we are told to focus on yourself, be selfish and "do what makes you happy" it's refreshing to put that aside and focus on something that truly matters forever. 

Monday

Today is Monday. Today is a rough day. Today my brother has left for the army and I pretty much cry on a minute by minute basis. But today I will find my strength in The Lord. 

Have a wonderful day! 

US of A Citizen

For those of you don't know, I "officially" became a citizen of the United States of America on July 23, 2014. Many of you will find this humorous because I have lived here since 3 months old. Let me start from the very beginning so you can all hear the WHOLE STORY....Once upon a time ... I was adopted from South Korea when I was 3 months old. I came here and have lived ever since. Something happened with the adoption agency where they never informed my parents that they needed to submit naturalization paperwork. Years later, my brother going into the Army we found out that even though I have a SS#, passport, US birth certificate....etc. I was not "officially" considered a US Citizen but only a "permanent resident." Yes, this does still mean I'm able to work, go to school, blah blah blah. And yes I did ask if I was getting deported and they laughed and said No. ;)

Fast forward I received my confirmation letter in the mail that my certificate was ready to be picked up. We (as in my entire family, extended family, neighbors, grocery man...etc.- totally kidding about the last parts) came and watched as I officially was sworn in as a citizen of the United States. I have to say, even though the whole thing was pretty comical it was a cool experience seeing what happens when someone does actually become a citizen. I had to stand with my right hand up and take an oath to protect my country and a whole lot of other things and then VOILA I became a citizen. I hope you enjoy my collage of pictures as I was feeling quite patriotic at the moment ;)

Chocolate Cinnamon Protein Pancakes

I woke up Tuesday morning with the intention of cleansing, but I felt so guilty not using up the food in our fridge before we head out of town.  I HATE wasting food, and didn't want to let the food we had in there to go bad while we are away.  So, instead, I decided to make some protein pancakes to use up our "almost TOO ripe" banana, and some eggs!  They turned out pretty good, especially with some chunky peanut butter and honey to top them off!

Ingredients:

2 Eggs

1 Egg worth of whites (3 tbsp of "All Whites")

1/4 Cup oat flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1 Scoop vanilla protein powder (I used Vanilla Isalean, purchase at alexfanelli.isagenix.com)

1 Ripe banana

1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1-2 Tsp cinnamon

2 Tsp pure vanilla extract

Let's Cook!

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  I decided to use an extra egg and vanilla last minute, for more moisture and flavor (already included in ingredients ;-) ).

                   

2. Use a non-stick pan at medium heat (level 5 on my stove). Let heat up for a couple minutes.  Drop 1/4 cup servings of batter onto pan.  Let cook until small bubbles start to form on top, and edges solitify.  Flip, and let cook for 1-2 minutes or until cooked through.

3.  Add your favorite nut butter for additional protein, and honey for some natural sweetness.  Enjoy!!

**This recipe makes about 6, 1/4 cup pancakes.  

**Each pancake is about 85 calories with 6g of protein!

**Your additional toppings will change that calorie and protein count.

Manitou Springs- Incline

I recently went down to Manitou Springs (which is near Colorado Springs) with family and conquered, completed, almost died, wanted to cry climbed The Incline. If you have never heard of this place you must look it up NOW and go and visit. And if you feel like being a total BEAST climb up that darn thing and shout from the mountain tops. This is the 3rd time I have completed The Incline and you would think each time gets easier and easier, NOPE. For some reason this was probably the hardest of them all. My cousins were in town so we all packed in the car, with my brothers, and started our trek. I would be lying if cuss words weren't strolling through my brain, tears were wanting to come out of my eyes and whining became my "go-to." Clearly I would be the LAST person to ever be on a deserted island with, well unless it's a tropical island with an all inclusive resort. If that's the case, sign me up! ;)

Truthfully, this workout will push you beyond the limits. Will test every ounce of strength you have and in the end you will feel accomplished and ready to chow down on food. Unfortunately because I'm doing the whole30.com program eating delicious cookies, brownies and FroYo were not an option but chicken and cucumbers sufficed. The incline is almost 1 mile exactly and goes up 2,000 feet in elevation. When you reach the top you can choose to plummet to your death take those stairs back down the mountain or there's a 4 mile trail back to the start. We chose to take the trail as falling down a mountain of stairs didn't exactly sound appealing. I did meet an Olympic Athlete while hiking and may have freaked out for a moment. I have no idea who he is, what sports he competes in, or if he has ever actually been to the olympics. All I heard was that he trains at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and I instantly pegged him as a Celebrity. We asked for a picture and to this day will probably never actually know who he is. For all I know he could just be a random guy hiking the Incline ;) If you are wanting to challenge yourself definitely give this a try! Hurry though, because they will be closing it down for 4 months starting mid-August. If you go, PLEASE let me know how it went and I will air high-five you because you're a rock star.

*pic courtesy of wikimedia.org